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ALAND'S PERSONAL COMPUTER MAGAZIN€ 



May 1984: $1,50 



imp 




Sanyo's under $2500 16 bit computer reviewed! 

plus reviews of 
Casio's lap computer Jl 
Sharp home computer 

TefeVftfeo portable 
I Apricot 




Low-cost data-cassette 
Interfaces and microdrives for the Spectrum 
Enlarged machine columns — more for your computer 
Columns on eight different computer brands 




Introducing 

a Teacher You Can 

Give to Your 

Apple, 

ill -^- A> am 



D.R. Britioii(NZ)Ud. 
are proud ro announce their 
appointmeni as the New Zealand 
Distributors of Control Daia PLATO 
Educational Courseware for Microcomputers. 

For the first time in New Zealand quality 
educational courseware is available for your 
Apple lie, Apple II plus or compatible 
microcomputer (Commodore, IBM, Atari 
titles available soon). D.R. Britton Ltd will 
from the first of May 1984 begin distribution 
of new lessons from the vast PLATO 
computer based education library. 

Control Data PLATO computer-based 
education, recognised as a world leader in 
educational software, is a highly inter-active 
system of self-paced, one-to-one instruction. 
Developed over 20 years, it has been 
thoroughly tested and proven in business, 
industry, and the academic community. 
PLATO lessons are designed and 
programmed to motivate and direct 
students as well as helping them 
develop a sense of 
accomplishment and 
personal progress. 

For example, the course titled 
Computer Literacy provides the 
foundation for simple programming 
as well as giving a brief introduction 
to the uses of computers in today's 
society. There are lessons in building 
vocabulary in French, German and 



Spanish as well as lessons in 
Physics, Fractions, Decimals 
and Basic Number Facts. 
Today, more than ever before, all 
members of society need to learn. PLATO 
computer-based education is designed and 
paced for the individual. This means easier 
learning with infinite patience and 
personalization. 

As traditional education meihods become 
progressively more costly and less efficient you 
owe it to yourself to bring the power of 
PLATO learning to your Apple. 

Ij you would like to receive the FREE 
PLA TO demo disk and be on our mailing list 
for future injormation on PLA TO Courseware 
for your Apple please fill in and mail the 
coupon below. 




PLATO 



\dltlCN-. 



Mail to:— Marketing Manager Lducation I 

D.R. BriuonLtd. 3 Sydney St. I 

P.O. Box 38400, Peione, Wellington] 

— — — - <§§> J 

" CONTRpL 



DATA 



BITS 6 BVTES 



lay, 1984 Vol. 2, No. 8 



ISSN 0111-9826 




Plotters for microcomputers are increasingly within the buying power 
of home and business users. A look at the offering in New Zealand. 14 

Garth Carpenter, the doyen of New Zealand astrologers, ises his 

PET microcomputer to help plot fortunes in the stars. 32 

National computer distributors are irked by independent importers. 4 

Telecomputing — John MacGibbons concludes his series jf 

articles with a look at Krackowicz, daddy ol the pirates. 41 

Problems are arising in the classification of those entitled to the 

10 per cent sales tax rebate. 4 

Artificial intelligence — A follow-up to the article printed by 

Bits & Bytes last October. 51 

Education — Games as a tool in the classroom. 49 

Hardware reviews 

The first in a series of the new highly portable, or lap. computers. 

The Casio FP-200, good for travel and tele-links. 19 

The Sharp MZ70Q; a home machine with a built-in printer'plotter. 25 
The Apricot: an elegant 16-bit machine from Britain. 17 

The Televideo: of tho "luggable" class — ideal for office and 
take-home work. 23 

Hassles with LOAD/SAVE? The ZETA C682 cassette might help. 31 




Apple: How to box your titles 64 
BBC: Menus and ROMs for 
graphics 69 

Commodore 64: Haw to look 
after your machine luseful for 
users of other brands, too) 65 
Osborne: A teach-yourself 
typing program, convertible to 
other brands of machine 56 



Sega: On getting to know vour 
machine 68 

Sinclair ZX81: Subs and 
helicopter games 58 

Spectrum: Softwars reviews 36 
Microdrive and 
interfaces 61. 62 

TRS80/System80: A look at the 
disk operating system, 

MULTIDOS 59 




Beginners 


43 


Disks 


49 


Book club 


37 


Glossary 


75 


Book reviews 


72 


Letters 


54 


Club contacts 


74 


Micronews 


2,6, 8. 10 




iWVi 



mm 



Televideo TPC-1 23 




gi i i 1 1 i i p 1 1 i i i-j 
i i.i. i 1 1 j liny kL 
i i 1 1 1 1 1 ii i I u3 XT 



Sharp MZ-721 25 




5? 



3 



Plotters 14 




MM 



Apricot 17 




Casio FP-200 19 

BITS & BYTES - May. 1984 - 1 



BITS & BYTES is published monthly. 
except January. I»y Neill Bifss, Dion 
Crooks and Paul Crooks. 
Head Offtc«: First floor. Dominion 

fi-LllUiiMIJ. 91 Clllll-Ul.il 3qLI.HL. 

P.O. Box 827. Chrlstchurch, 

Telephone 66-566. 
Auckland Office: Daytone House S3 
Davis CfCS. P.O. Box 9870. Mewnwirkct. 

Tolaphone 54-9-02:8 (advertising and 

editorial enquiries only). 

Advertising 

Coordinator - Paul Crooks. tolophorut 

G-6-566. Chnsichurcli. 

Reprrmrtntatives - 

Auckland: Paul O'Donuyhuc, telephone 
549.028 iwl. 699 050 (hi. P.O. Box 
9870. 

Wullm^iQn: Marc Hcvroann. telephone 
844 985. PO 80.x 27-205. 

Editorial 

Editor Neill Birss. P.O. float 827. 

Chrintehurch. 

Consulting editors - Cathy and Sctwyn 

Arrow 

Reprasoritaeivcs - 

Auckland: Guiu Ellis, wlcphone 549 028, 

P.O. Box 9870 

Welngton ; 

Sliayno Doyle. IB Holdsworth Avenue. 

Upper Hull, telephone 280 333 oxt. 892 

lw), J78-S45 |n>, 

Pat Churchill. 5 Lucknow Terrace. 

Khanrtallah, telephone 797-193 (hi. 

Merchandise 

Book club ami software manager: Dion 
Crooks. 

Subscription 

Subscription laco: 512 a year (1 1 ussucsl 

adults, and $ 1 a year tor school 

students 

Subscriptions being from the issue of 
BITS & BYTES after the subscription S 
received. 

Overseas subscriptions: 
Surface mail - 523 a year. 
Airmail - Australia ond South Pacific, S45 
a yiMt; North America .and Asia. $72 a 
year; Europe. South America, the MkMie 
East, $34 a year. 

Subscription addresses: When sondiny in 
subscriptions please include postul 2pnr>$ 
for the cities. If your label is incorrectly 
addressed please send it to us with the 
correction marked. 

Distribution 

inquiiios: Bookshops - Gordon and Gotch. 

ltd. 

Computer stores direct 10 ihe 

publishers. 

Disclaimers 

Opinions: The views of reviewers and 
other contributors are not necessarily 
shared by the publishers. 
Copyright: All articles and programs 
printed) in this magazine are copyright. 
They should not be sold or passed on to 
riOll subscribes in flay form: printed, or In 
tape or disk format, 

Liabiluy: Although moicnal used m BITS & 

BYTES is checked for accuracy, no liability 
can be assumed (pr uny losses due to llic 
use of any material in this, magazine. 

Production 

Production Manager: Dion Crooks, 

Assistants: Roger Browning, Graeme 

Patterson. 

Cover and graphics: Sally Williami. 

Typusotling: Focal Point. 

Print od: r Dunedm bv Allied Press. 



MICRO N€WS 



ft ommi a nw w My i m t n ••< " '~'\ ■ 



■v— ..■ ■■■■ ■■ -■-■< .-■> ■>■:;■-»» *• ■■■. m I 



Universities 
in $1.5M 
Apple deal 



A consortium of the seven New 

Zealand universities has ordered 
$•1.5 million worth of Apple 
Macintosh and Lisa microcomputers. 

The order is beleved to be the largest 

Single purchase of microcomputers 

in New Zealand. 

Six months ago, Apple Computer 
established a consortium concept in 
the United Slates, where there are 
now 27 members, including Harvard, 
Yate and Stan'ord Universities. The 
American consortium has bought 
more than 20,000 Macintosh and 
Lisa miccos. 

To belong to the consortium, 
universities undertake to purchase 
the Macintosh and to develop 
software. course-ware, and 

instructional rralerial. 

In New Zealand, both students and 
faculty will isc computers for a 
variety of purposes, as tools for 
curriculum development and in 
expanding new educational and 

commercial applications. Under the 
agreement with Appte. each 
university is expected to develop 

applications en Macintosh and to 
share this information with fellow 

consortium members. 

The universities will meet regularly 
with and without Apple to exchange 
ideas about individual programs and 
to share courseware developments. 

The agent for Apple Computers in 
New Zealand, CED Distributors, a 



division of Consolidated Enterprises, 
Ltd. co-ordinated the purchase whh 
Dr J. White and Dean Myer, o( Ihe 
University of Auckland, and the 
overseas principals of Apple 
Computer, 

The cost of each Macintosh is 
believed to have been around 
$2500-. compared to an expected 
retail price in New Zealand of around 
$6000. 

Franklin 

The Apple v. Franklin copyright 

case has been settled out of court, 
with the Franklin Computer 
Corporation paying Apple Computer 
Inc. SUS2.5 million. The settlement 
allows Franklin to continue business 
as usual but to begin installing its 
own operating systems. 

Multitech 

Taiwan-made Multitech micro- 
computers have been released in 
New Zealand by Rakon Computers, 
Ltd. The IV1IC-500 series, starting at 
S2300, includes the CP.'M 2.2 
operating system and a standard 
business software package: a word 

processor, electronic spreadsheet, 
sorting utility, mailing system, and 
data-base system. The MIC 500 is a 
single-board. Z-80A based computer 
with 64K ol RAM and dual 5'/- in. 
disk drives, offering 500K bytes of 
storage. 

The MIC-504 model dual disk drive 

has 2 megabytes of storage. The 

MPF-V is an IBM compatible. 16-bit 

8088 machine with 128K bytes, 
expandable to 256K. It has colour 
graphic capability and full tilt and 
swivel display monitor. 



Enlarged BITS & BYTES 

BITS \ Ui ll> lias another 16 putt's of reading litis month and while we 
can 1 ! promise 76 pages cverv month vu-ccrtainh expert ii will become mure llic 
norm. 

We have decided to devote mosfl of ihe extra space to specific machine 
columns mi readers who own coinpulcis should I ind more information tin their 
brand. Our columnists now have access lu must of ihe new games and 
cducaliiMKll SDfrW&rc STffViftg in Ilit* Country SO watch lor (heir report and 
reviews. 

On the business side next monl h will sen ihe sian of a regular series looking ai 
software written for ihe Commodore 64 and SX 64. These machines are proving 
popular as relatively low-cost business machines amd :■ number of packages have 
liven written for ihcm in New Zealand. These will he reviewed in (lie coming 
itinnihs plus u Iciok :tl wurri processing and spreadsheet packages. 

Also nexl month we feature another program special full of programs to type 
and try. 

In llic slighih longer lenn BITS & I1VTKS is invoked in negotiations on a 
couple of exciting projects that wc arc sure our readers will find exlrctnci") 
interesting. More details as ihey come lo hand. 



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Sirs* BYTES - M«v. 1984-3 



snies tax 

10% qnalififtrs 

Now the 
problems 
begin 

By Gaie Ellis 

"New technology" is the basis o( 
some debate among companies 
seeking classification lor computet 
sales-Tax exemption purposes. The 
classifications are dedicated by the 
Statistics Department in Auckland, 

where Mr David Archer, a senior 

department official, says "new 
technology" is proving to be a huge 
field with areas of grey. 

Traditional classifications are 
being questioned by some 
companies, and Mr Archer says his 
department is open to discussing 
these grey areas. 

Two recent cases highlight the 

situation. Examining the activities of 
a North Island publisher the 
department found the company's 
activities did not fall within the 
normal definitions of a publisher, 
because it did not undertake its own 
printing. Like many magazine 
publishers- tha firm contracted the 
printing to a printing company. On 
this ground it was unable to get an 
exemption on computer purchases. 
A second case involved a South 
Island company involved in the 
development of system software 
that has been sold world-wide 
(UNCI. This company, it seems, is 

not registered as a research and 
development organisation. In the 
department's assessment, research 

and development were not the 

company's main activities and it did 
not qualify. 

In fact, according to Mr Archer, 
few organisations ate solely 
dedicated to research and 
development in New Zealand and 
those that are are generally 
Government or quast-government 
departments. The main activities. 



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ftTv.v^v^^MtQttMtMOMMtHMOQQMQMOtQVK 



Independents 

versus 

Nationals 

By Gaie Ellis 

Some computer retailers, it seems, 
are taking a leaf out of the New 

Zealand Party's books and opting for 

free bargaining, much to the chagrin 
of their larger brothers, the national 
distributors (see Micronews item). 

The small retailers are buying 
direct from overseas distributors 
who arc keen to have these "cash- 
up-front" customers able to land and 
retail the rna:hines on the New 
Zealand market at prices lower than 
they are being wholesaled by the 
major distributors. 

Enter the computer purchaser: 
"Free enterprise" would be the 
obvious reactiDn of the consumer, 
But the lower prices have their 
drawbacks, not the least of which 
are ihe guarantee and servicing 
factors. The larger distributors build 
the cost of promoting, servicing, and 
maintaining tlieir products into the 



retail price, a standard business 
approach. Frequently, too, they put 
their products through quality 
assurance procedures before 
releasing them for sale. When a 
product does need servicing they 
have large departments with 
technical support dedicated to the 

servicing factor. 

The current shortage of electronic 
components and long lead times in 
delivery once the components are 
sou reed means these distributors 
will give preference to those who 
have paid for it. In fact, they will go 
to some lengths to provide this 
servicing; one large Auckland- based 
distributor said recently: "It makes 
me cry when I have to take apart a 
perfectly good machine for parts and 
I'm obviously not keen to do that for 
someone who has not paid for the 
warranty in the first place." 

These major distributors say they 

will stand by all tlieir products but 
the customers who have bought 
through their dealers will get 
preference and others will have to go 
on. the growing waiting lists. 

they say that computer 
purchasers should look beyond the 
tempting cheaper price tag and 
check precisely what guarantees and 
back-up they can expect. 



source of income or profit, and 
percentage of staff dedicated to a 
particular activity are the criteria 
used to classify a company. 

"We have to keep within the spirit 
of the classifications as they have 
been laid down and classification for 
exemption is based on classification 
principles defined in a United Nations 
agreement." 

In fact, it is litis same type of 
classification agreement which 
caused debate with the Customs 
Department from members of the 
electronics industry largely 

because the classifications could not 
keep pace with rapid changes in 
technology. 

It would be a shame if the same 
birth-pains were to now hinder 
exemptions which were brought in 
primarily to help New Zealand 
industry keep pace with modern 



technology. 

Perhaps the growing pains could 
be circumvented if communication 
lines between the Statistics 
Department and computer con- 
sumers were strengthened. Perhaps 
the department should take steps to 
keep the industry informed of its 
classification methods and the re- 
course open to companies which 
find them unacceptable, as did the 
Customs Department and Trade and 
Industry when they found the on- 
slaught of the new technologies was 
beinq slowed by bureaucracy, 



COMPUTER OWNERS 

WE WILL MARKET YOUR SOFTWARE IN N.Z., AUSTRALIA AND THE U.S.A. 
ANY ORIGINAL APPLICATION OR GAMES PROGRAM WIIL BE 
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION WRITE TO: 

THE REMARKABLE SOFTWARE COMPANY LIMITED. 

P.O. BOX 9535. HAMILTON. N.Z. 



COMPUTASHOP 
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Remember every BITS & 
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product. 



4 BITS & BYTEs Miy, 1934 




Whofc keeping up with 
Commodore? 



The Commodore 64 is designed 
and priced so that you can pile on 
the peripherals. Like a disc drive, 
printer and even a printer 
plotter. You can own the 
Commodore 64 AND disc 
drive and printer for little 
more than you'd pay for 
many other computers alone 




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It's outstanding! 



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P.O. Box 33-847, Takapuna, Auckland 

Telephone 497-081 

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Name . 
Address. 



or Contact your local dealer 




BITS & BYTES - May, 1984 - 5 



MICRO N€WS 

Plato software 
released 

About 45 titles in the Plato 
educational software range arc 
boing released in New Zealand 
this month. 

Plato software has been 
developed in the United States 
over the last 20 years for running 

on Control Data's educational 
microcomputers. Now there is a 
range available for microcom- 
puters and initial titles for New 
Zealand release will be for Apple 
computers. Commodore, IBM, 
and Atari software coming later. 

Plato educational products are 
aimed at primary, secondary. 
and tertiary levels, although 
some titles will interest 
computer users outside educa- 
tional institutions. 

Along with courses and 
vocabulary building lessons in 
French and German and courses 

in algebra, for instance, there is a 
complete computer literacy 
course. Disks are available on 
building relationships and com- 
munication skills for teenagers. 



■• ■ ■ — — ■ ■ 



Lessons ore d«gignod to 

motivate <nd direct students and 
help therr. develop a sense of 
achievement and personal 
progress. 

The age range catored for by 
Plato products is from around 10 
to 20. 

To launch the range, the local 
distributor, O.R. Britton, Ltd, is 
offering fiee demonstrations for 
eight dHferent courses. All 
packages will be priced at 
$79.95, regardless of the 

number o' disks involved. There 

will oe a special price for 
schools, although this has not 
yet been decided on. 

It is proposed that up to 150 
new lilies will be released coch 
year. It is also hoped that local 
people will come forward and 
write p-ograms of special 
interest to the New Zealand 
market. 

- Pat Churchill 

Osborne stirs 

The Osborne Computer Corpora 
tion, which is trying to trade its way 
out of difficulties under a special 
American bankruptcy code 

provision, has filed a business plan 



wilh iis creditors and the court. 
Under the plan, Osborne will focus 
80 per cent of its attention on the 

international market; will pay back 

SUS15.5 million to secured and 
unsecured creditors within 15 
months; it will give unsecured 
creditors 20 per cent equity in the re- 
organised company: it will have all 
products made under contract by 
other firms. The firm says in the plan 
that its Executive 1 will continue to 
be manufactured throughout this 
year. A new machine, the Osborne 
PC. will be ready for volume 
production midyear, and another 
machine, the Vixen, will also be 
produced. However, the company 
says, further production of the 
Osborne 1 is "not clear at the 
moment. " 

Apple portable 

Apple is about to get into the 
portable market with the lie. It will be 
midway between 2kg lap computers 
and the 12kg portables. or 
"luggables-". According to some 

reports the lie will have 128K RAM, 
one disk drive, a typewriter-style 
keyboard, and will run all lie 
software, ft is said to weigh 4 kg. 



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from the world's 2nd largest 
computer company. 




2 The Rainbow show's more 
characters. 132 columns 
instead of the usual SO. So 
you can screen a 1 1 
months spreadsheet 
without losing 6 
months. 



4 The Rainbow's keyboard is 
designed with separate 
function groups and special 
tasEike HR(.P\ "DO" -" 
■'NEXT SCREEN". 



and 



mmm 




5 0n!v the Rainbow - 
automatically nins the 
widest range of die popular ft 
bit and 10 bit CPAI and 
MS/DOS software on hard and 
floppy discv 




6 Rainbow is designed for corporate environments with 
terminal emulation anil communications ti> Digital's 
OPs. VAXs, and IBM mainframes. 



SD1DDSD 



Tliis is not just anotlier Personal Computer. It is 
the Rainbow from Digital with 25 years of expedience 
and the No, 2 computer company in the world 

Mow that >tti'w looked over the Rainbow 100 on paper, look it over in pers>n at any of the computer deatas listed below 

•liUAM) ulniiM (.ottv Unfed ■* "*M.US. Mjlmlm !«« « \*«i*»PI. " i ■ M ^"xfe >Sl> I* I»2« lttUtWlSW» Uttflrf Pfc H W IHeUlflt. W > l » 

UMI1T0N iMum SotWb IJUttd n> M Jlfi ffl UKI Biy (Hte SuwilW I'd M iw «BJJNC1DK KiMnmCaiiml $urro LmnJ Ph! 161 nW» tjpii.il IUnni»> Siinis I'll w-l i"i. 

Hunan Spwm im*tf h. 8W *»yi. iwui Hi ':* :wi. whom a k<> nffia Suppltt i* 177 H5: iiiKisinnio fcntro* c«num i«w*d Ki W ir. 8im»j iwrihuum iimiiul I1> <« 2:1. 

OMfokrHuRi (ffl H9 tuna* srtfcm tiiwal n W4» foBUirt SMfcirau tatoCMvuisfli '"i m nxmtoi TU oca tonu Madmn rh :HM 

BITS & BYTES - May. 1984-7 



MICRO N€UJS 



■ ■■■■■ ..... . 



Dick Smith Cat 

The Australian media is predicting 
a big future lot the just released low- 
cost Dick Smith Apple work-alike 
called the Cat with a writer in the 
Australian newspaper saying it "will 
send shock-waves through the 
industry - possibly world-wide." 

The same writer quoted a big 
Sydney dealer as saying that it Apple 
cannot legally stop che Cat and if. as 
is apparent, the machine will accept 
most of the Apple software, then 
"the future of the Apple ire in 
Australia is extremely dubious." 

Below are a few more technical 
details about the Cat (see fast 
month's micro news for earlier 
report). 

The Cat uses two very large scale 
integrated (VLSI) chips, which 
allows the motherboard to be a third 
the size of the Apple and totally 
different in concept. 

It does not use any of the circuitry 
or operating systems of the Apple, all 
of which are locked! in by countless 
patents. 

As the Cat stands, it will run about 
71 per cent of Ihe software written 
for the Apple. By the addition of an 
"emulator" at a cost of $99 (about 
$200 in N.Z.) and a diskette which 
comes from a third party supplier at 
$33 (about $70 inM.2.), the Cat will 
take more than 95 per gent of the 
Apple software. 

The Cat itself is expected to retail 
here for $1295 although no New 
Zealand release date has been 
formally announced. 

Apricot sales 

ACT (Applied Computer Tech- 
niques) has now sold more than 
$NZ58.5 million worth of its Apricot 

computers to 15 nations. The 
machines are made at ACT's new 
plant in Silicon Gten (Glenrothes. 
Scotland), which is being extended 
by 50 per cent, so that it wiJI be able 
to manufacture 1 00,000 machines a 
year. ACT has now also acquired the 
world manufacturing and marketing 

rights for the Sirius (it previously 

produced thorn for Europe) from 
Victor Technologies of California. 
(See Apricot review in this issue of 
Bits & Bytos.) 

Apple foundation 

Apple Computer Inc has 
announced plans to establish an 
educational grant programme in 10 
countries to support new methods of 
learning through personnel 

computers, and New Zealand Is one 
of these countries. The company's 
Apple Education Foundation, at 
present in tho United States and 



Canada, will csublich offices in Now 
Zealand, Austialia, Hong Kong, 
Singapore, the Caribbean. Mexico. 
Venezuela, Colombia, Saudi Arabia. 
and South Africa during 1 984. The 
Apple Education Foundation will be 
represented in New Zealand by an 
independent local board of advisers, 

consisting of prominent individuals in 

education .and public service. CEO 
Distributors will administer the 
programme and has been 
approaching leading authorities in 
education and government regarding 
positions on the board. 



but inludes an IEEE-498 interface 
for scientific and engineering 
applications. 

A 10 megabyte hard disk is 
available as an option. 

The P2000 will also be available 
from CBL offices nationwide. 

Texas Instruments 

In the third -Quarter of its financial 
year, the first since it dropped 
production of home compute/s, 
Texas Instruments posted an $2 per 
cent rise in profit. The company says 
its 1983 pre-tax losses on home 




P2000 

Philips portable 

Philips (P.O. Box 2097. Welling- 
ton) is the latest company to enter 
the burgeoning portable computer 
market with the release here of its 
8-bit P2000 range. 

There are three models in the 
range and all have twin Z80 
processors, one as the main 
processor anc one for handling 
input/output functions, which Philips 
believes makes the P2000 as 
powerful as 16-bit microcomputers. 

The three models all include 64K 
RAM, nine inch monitor displaying 
80 columns by 24 lines and high 
resolution graphics (512 x 252 
pixels), detachable keyboard, twin 
disk drives, CP/M operating system 
Ip-System is optional) and the 
software packages Wordstar 
(wordprocessor) and Calcstar 

(spreadsheet). 

Other packages will be offered at a 
discount if purchased with the 
machine. 

The differences between the 
models are that the P20 1 has 1 60 K 
floppy disk storage and costs 
$4950. the P2012 with 640K 
storage costs $5950, as does tho 
P2Q10/2 which has 160K storage 



computers totalled SUS660 million; 
this included close-down costs. In its 
latest -quarter report, the company 
made a profit of SUS77.5 million, 
compared with SUS4-2.6 million a 
year earlier. 

Amust problems 

The Amust Computer Manufac- 
turing Company whose portable 
machine was reviewed in the March 
issue of Bits and Bytes, has been 
placed under a statutory manager in 
Melbourne. 

Under this financial arrangement 

there is a fighting chance lhat the 
firm can re-organise and trade its 
way out of its difficulties. 

Meanwhile, the price ot the 
machine in New Zealand has been 
cut since the review was printed: 
from $6175 to $5785, 

Rainbow software 

Digital says that more than 1000 
packages are now available for its 
personal computer, the Rainbow. 
Digital runs a special free service for 
the first year of Rainbow ownership. 
The now owners can ring Digital free 
for help and advice. A staff of four 
run the "Helproom". 



8 - WTS fc BYTES - Mjiy. 1984 



v--y.ur.-i ■ii~t.:T--Tj:j-j-fs>.:A. 





GOING 

AROUND 

CIRCLES? 

Finding the com puter that will suit your needs 
- and your pocket - can make your head 

spin. 

RAKON COMPUTERS LTD know there is more than one 

solution to ony problem. They provide practical 

solutions to ordinary - and exlraadinary - business 

problems. 

Recognising the need for small businesses to 

maximise efficiency RAKON have a 

range of computers supported by a large 

range of software dedicated to the small 

businessman's needs, 

Contact RAKON and be sure the right doors open for 

you. 




MUITITECH 50) and 504 



The MIC ZOO Series slaris al a low S2300. a price tog which Includes 

CPM 22 Operating system and o *tondafd business software package 

inciuding work processing, spreadsheet data base, mass trailing 

system and file sorting. 

MIC 501 - 500K bytes of storage. 

MIC 504 - 2 megabytes of storage. 




SEEQUA CHAMELEON 

Is an IBM compaltole, portable PC whch doubles your software 
options Operating on MSDOS or CP/M80, CP/86 this machine oilers 
I28K bytes RAM and features dual 8 and '6 pi1 processors. 

Rcwon Computers ^ p^i # (tie p a Kon Group or COfr©anies. 

'u l support a assured from h-house software consultants ir addition to 

COmpWUfc after soles service fiom fully etpeif nc«d oa-nouter personnel 

Rakon Computers Ltd, 9 George St, Ml Eden, Auckland Private Bag. Telephone 600-421 604-358. Telex MZ 21682. 
39 Scoresby Rd. Bayswater. Melbourne, Austrolo. Telephone (03) 7203*88. Telex Australia 34590. 

114 Alexander St, Crows Nest, Sydney. Aistralia. Telephone (02) 431 351. Telex 75664. ice iocs 




MICRO N€WS 



™***w»x*MOTmmiwm***m«i«v*ft«™wM'w™^ mmtticmommkiMtmcvMaKnMWf .... vmwmwaumi 



Under-$1000, ink- 
jet printer for micros 

Hewlett-Packard put an ink-jet primer for 
microcomputers on the market in New Zealand this 
month with a suggested retail price of about S90O. 

The HP 2225 runs quietly (below 50 decibels} and is 
competitively priced. Fully portable, it may be used with 
portable or desktop personal computers from HP. and 
personal computers from a variety of other 

manufacturers, including IBM, Apple, Digital and Texas 

Instruments. 

With an ink-jot printer, the characters are painted on 
paper by spraying the ink through tiny holes in a 
printhead. Since the printhead never touches the paper, 
there is a substantial noise reduction over other printer 
types. 

"White ink-jet technology is not new. it has been 
expensive to purchase, messy to refill and difficult to 



Auckland events 

Computer Warehouses Ltd, of 
Auckland, is retrenching and has 
stopped selling some brands of home 
computers. Three of its nine 
employees have been lord off, and 
part of its building is being closed. 
The firm blames direct imports of 
computers from overseas and price 
cutting with those machines. Three 
other Auckland firms have moved 
out of home computers: Micromart, 
Porterfield Computers, and the 
Home Computer Centre. 

Mr Jim Bulloch, the managing 
director of Computer Warehouses, 
said that computer retailers who 
traditionally relied on national 
authorised distributors to maintain 
bulk stocks and "reasonable 
recommended retail price" levels 
have been seriously affected by 
independent importers buying 
popuior brands in bulk overseas from 
very big distributors, and then selling 
the machines bet ween 20 and 35 per 
cent cheaper. 

Computer Warehouses was not in 
a position to compete with the lower 
prices offered by independent 
importers, or with the discounts 
offered by some other retailers, Mr 
Bulloch said, 

The firm has stopped selling a 
number of brands, but only 
temporarily, he says. "We will 
continue to support the New Zealand 
distributor of the Spectravideo range 
of computers." 

Software deal 

The managing director of 
Computer Stores on Auckland's 
North Shore, Mr Eike Zimmerman, 
1 "BITS & BYTES - May . 108U 



maintain,"' said Mr Robert Catielt, manager for Hewleii- 
Packard's New Zealand Computer Group. "The ink-jet 
mechanism on the HP 2225 has no tubes to clog, 
reservoirs to be refilled, or moving parts to wear out." 

The HP 2225 also combines the printhead with the ink 
reservoir in one conveniently disposable unit. When a 
cartridge runs out of ink, the user replaces that unit with 
one that contains ink and a new printhead for less than 
S20. 

Key specifications include: 

150 character-per-second print speed; 11 x 12 dot 
matrix characters; multiple print sizes; bold and underline 
that do not slow printing; 8 14 in x 11 in paper either single 
sheet or fanfold or 21.0cm x 29.7cm (size A4); 11 &in 
wide by8.1indeep by 3VSin hicjh. 5.5in to 6lb in weight; 
500-page average ink-cartridge life; 200-page average 
battery life; Centronix, HPIB. and HPIL (battery poweredl 
interfaces available; tractor and friction paper feed; and 
full graphics capability (192 x 96 or 96 x 96 dots per 

inch). 

Any paper may be used with the primer. However, the 
best print quality is on ink-jet paper, which costs and 

weighs about the same as bond. 



believes an agreement he has 
reached with more than 15 software 
houses overseas will provide support 
for those generating software 
locally. Mr Zimmerman's arrange- 
ment enables software to be copied 
on to more than 50 different 5 in. 
disk recording formats. 

In less than five days. Mr 
Zimmerman can have software 
recorded on the CP.'M 80, CP;M 86, 
MS-DOS and PC-DOS operating 
systems from Australia and the FLEX 
and UniFLEX from the United States, 
catering for more than 40 major 
computer brands. 

Diary 64 

Commodore f4Z, Ltd, has just 
released a timgnanagement, data- 
base program. Diary 64. which 
includes a printout routine for 
address labels. The Diary "pages" 
appear on the sceen in blocks of 1 
lines, 27 characters per line, 

New disk drive 

Commodore NZ, Ltd, has released 
a dual disk-drive unit, the 8250LP. It 
has its own microprocessor, 4K 
buffer RAM, and a ROM-based disk- 
drive system, It takes 5/4 in. 
diskettes, has double-sided drives, 
and a total capacity of 2.12 
megabytes. 

Apple posts 

CED Distributors, sole agent for 

Apple Computer in Mew Zealand and 
a division of Consolidated Enter- 
prises, Ltd. hss announced the 
appointment of Mr R.G. Klarwill as 
national sales mznager. Mr Klarwill is 



no newcomer to the industry, having 
spent eight years in the IBM Office 
Products Division and most recently 
as sales operation manager with 
Rank Xerox. This is a new position 
created to assist with the growth in 

sales of Apple microcomputers. Also 

announced is the appointment of Mr 
D.G. (David) Henry, as service 
manager, and of Mr A. Browghton, 
as a marketing specialist. 

Medical sales 

Porterfields is enthusiastic about 
sales of the Radio Shack Model 100 
to the medical field. The Wellington 
Clinical School of Medicine has 
recently purchased the machine as 
an upgrade on its earlier Model 1 
purchase which has been used in 
data recording in breast-cancer 
research. Another Model 100 has 
been added by the school to 
machines it is using in its speech 
therapy department. The machines 
are suited for communications for 
handicapped people, particularly 
those with problems of vocal 
expression. Porterfields is currently 
offering a special deal with this 
model, with a drop in price of S300. 

New U.K. machine 

Another new microcomputer is to 
be manufactured in Britain. The 
CPC4&4, made by Amsoft, the 
computer division of the British 
consumer electronics group, 
Amstral, has 64K RAM. With a 
Cassette recorder and monochrome 
monitor it will retail in Britain at 
£200. For an extra C1O0. the British 
buyer can have a colour monitor. The 
CPC464 has a 280 processor. 



tf 



NEW LOW PRICES 



BBC 



ON 
THE 

MICROCOMPUTER 





The BBC Microcomputer has a 
central processing unit (CPU) with a 
memory of 32K of RAM (Random 
Access Memory) which can be 
expanded if required by the addition 
of a second processor. System 
software occupies a massive 32K of 
ROM (Read Only Memory) which 
includes one of the largest operating 
systems of anv micro and a 
powerful 16K BASIC. The Keyboard 
has a conventional layout and an 
electric typewriter 'Eeel'. The 
machine generates high resolution 
colour graphics — considered vastly 
superior to Ihoso of more expensive 
machines on the market — and 
offers a powerful range of 
commands. The BBC Micro can also 
synthesis* polyphonic music and 
speech. 

CASSETTE OPERATED SYSTEM 

WAS $1995 

NOW $ 1699 

From $172 Dep. - S 15.23 Wkly. 

DISK OPERATED SYSTEM 

WAS $2255 

NOW $ 2050 

From $208 Dep. - S18.37 Wkly. 

LET US GIVE YOU A DEMONSTRATION 

Optional extras include: 

• 18" Colour Monitor • Disc Drive Unit • Sanyo Tape Recorder 

• Monochrome Screen • Connector Loads 

MORE THAN 200 SOFTWARE PACKAGES AVAILABLE 

Whrkoulls 

STORES THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND 






39 



BITS S BYTES May, 1 984 - 11 



VERSATILE 
PLOTTER 
PRINTER 

C. ITOH CX4800 



Plot graphs, Draw Charts, 
engineering drawings. 

Prints dato» Programs- 

15 CPS, J28 char sizes 

4 Col ours-b&l 1 po Int pens 

Forms tractor 9.5" wide 

Fr'lct ion feed A4/Quarto 

Dual inter f ace-pa ral lei t 

RS232 for all computers 





MICRO N€WS 



t 




CX-dBOO" 



Ex stock supply and full support from 
Leading dealers throughout New Zealanc 
HZ Distributor: 




45 Normanby Road. Ml felen. Auckland 3. P.O. Box 68474. 
Auckland. N.Z. Telex NZ6I 102 "Daisys' Phone (09) «0-«t7 

r Please send me full details on the Plotter Printer, plus address 
of my nearest authorised dealer. 



I 

L 



Name 



Address 



Telephone 



I 

J 



■■■■"■ I, 



TRS finally arrives 

It seems Tandy Radio Shack 
computers will finally become freely 
available in New Zealand with the 
announcement that the huge Texas 
company has signed an agreement 
with the new public company AVM 
(P.O. Box 2823, Christchurch). 

Up till now Tandy, which along 
with Apple and Commodore ranks- as 
one of the most famous names in The 
microcomputer revolution, has only 
been sparsely represented here and 
most enthusiasts imported ihe 
machines direct from America or 
Australia. 

AVM will be wholesaling Tandy's 
home computer range throughout 
the country and retailing the 

business range (including the new 
Model 20001 from its Christchuich 
store. Porterficld Computers in 
Auckland will also continue to sell 
the business range. 

There are two models of Tandy 

home computers; 

• The MC-IO. a colour computer in 
the VZ200 mould with AK of RAM 
expandable to 20K and expected 
to retail heie for around $300. 

• The Colour Computer which 
comes in three different versions. 

1 6K standard, expected to 
retail for around $600. 
1 6K extended BASIC with high- 
res graphics for around S7O0 
S4K RAM for around $1000. 

AVM will also have available a 
large range of peripherals and 
software for these models. 

Tandy 2000 

Porterfield's is trying to get the 
Tandy 2000 into the educational 
field. While Ihe Tandy 2000 will 
generally retail in New Zealand at 
$8995, the educational organisa- 
tions are being offered the 16- bit 
machine at $4500. 

The 128K machine, with dual disk 
drives and running MS-DOS, is not 
an IBM work-a like. Mr Tom Meyer, 
of Porterfield's, says bench-mark 
tests have shown the machine to be 
as much as three times faster. 

A new delivery agreement for New 
Zealand which will shorten lead time: 
weekly air freights arc now under 
way and customers no longer have 
to wait until 98 per cent of a 
shipment capacity is reached before 
an order is sent. 



New owner 

Computerland, the microcomputer 
service and supply company has 
been bought by Idaps, the computer 
service company. 



12 BITS & BYTES - May. 1984 



I 



High Speed 
printing 

FACIT printers 
where options 
are built in 



near letter quality 



The Facit Model's 4510 and 451 2 are 
cwo recently introduced primers. The 
4510 is lhe junior partner and ihc 4512 
the senior patincr. 

These primers ate solidly 

constructed and are intended for 

business use. 

Print quality is excellent. The 
normal character height is 2.5mm but 
this can be varied down to micro script 
and up to double height on the 4512. 
Micro script is useful for footnotes and 
double height for headings. 

As well as changing the height of 
characters, the width can also be 
changed and furthermore the spacing 
can be fixed or proportional. 

As the carriage speed is adjustable in 
3 steps, sloping printing, and italics are 
possible on the 4512. 

Printing speed is good a| 120 
characters per second (140 for the 
4512) and this allows 55 lines per 
minute at 10 CP1. 

Enhanced printing, which is 
compatible to daisy wheel quality is 
available about 70 cps. This is five 
times faster than a daisy wheel, with 
acceptable letter quality printing. 

Line length is a maximum of SO 
columns (132 for the 4512) with 
software controlling any value between 
12 and 80(132). 

Tabs are set vertically and 
horizontally at every 25mm. 

The character set is basically 96 
ASCII characters plus 8 other national 
languages, useful for an exporter if you 
want to write in French or Spanish etc. 

The Matrix is 9 x 9 and "9 x 1 5 in high 
resolution, (9 x 9 and 18 x 17 for the 
4512). Block graphics are available, 64 
blocks to the PRESTEL standard and 
also Pin graphics. Pin graphics allow 
virtual control of each Pin in the 
matrix. 




The Facii 4511) printer 



Paper feed can be continuous roll, 
single sheets or fan fold in width from 
4 inches to II inches (15 inches/4512). 

One definite advantage of the 
FACIT is the built in 2K RAM buffer. 
This means up to 2K of text can be 
stored in the prirter freeing the 
computer for other things. Especially 
useful for short letteis and forms. 

Serial, to RS232 standards and 
parallel to Centronics standard pons 
are used. This means almost any 
tomputcr can be hooked up to the 
primer ,ind two dip switches at the rear 
allow easy selection of anv protocol 
e.g. IBM, EPSON etc. 

The ribbon is the cassette type and 
good for 4 million characters. 

The printing options can be set by a 

switch on the front of the machine, 

One nice feature is that paper is 
easily fed into the machine as the 
tractor/friction feed aid roller guide is 
externally controlled saving digging 
into the machine. 

FACIT advertise the printer as the 
primer where options are standard and 
the model 4510 and 4512 certainly live 
up to this. 



Name: Facit 4510 (4512 - 

in brackets). 

Type: Dot Matrix. 

Character set: 96 ASCII plus S 
national languages. 

Print Head: 9 x 9 and 9; K 15 (9 x 

9 and 18x17). 

i*Fint Speed: 120 cps at 10 cpi 

(140 cps). 
Prim Direction: Bi-directional with 

minimal distance 

logic. 
Line Spacing: 6 or 8 LPI plus 

graphics. 
Line Length: 80 or 40 switched, 

12-SO software 

controlled (132. 

12-132). 
Paper Width: 4-11 inches (4-15 

inches). 
Paper Feed: Tractor ■ 

(detachable) and 

Friction. 

Original plus 3-. 



Copies: 
Buffer: 
Interface: 



2K. 

Serial KS232, Para- 
llel Centronics. 

Price: 4510 SI245 (not 

including :>ales. 
tax), 4512 SI 795 
(not including sales 
tax). 

Options: Included as stan- 

dard. 



Tor further information telephone or write to 



1MCLEAIM 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 



4-59 Khyber Pass Road, Mewmarket, P.O. Bo» 
9464, Newmarket, Auckland 1, New Zealand. 
Telephones: 501-801 , 587-037 
Tolex: NZZ1570 THERMAL 

Dealer Enquiries Welcome. 



BITS & BYTES - Miry. 1984 - 13 



P€RIPH€RfllS 



Micro 
hard copy 
in colour 

By Martin Downey 

When the phrase, "computer 
revolution," was born several years 
ago many pundits predicted a 
resulting "peripheral revolution" in 
the very near future. It seems that 
this "son of computer revolution" 
has begun. Slim-line disk drives and 
dot-matrix printers have dropped 
drastically in price recently. With 
these decreasing prices have come 
equally notable increases in 
performance. Better print resolution 

on the printers and higher-capacity, 
more compact disk drives (most 
obviously the- new 3% inch disks). 

The latest computer add-on to 
tempt the New Zealand market is the 
plotter. For as little as S400 you can 
now pick up a four-colour plotter that 
will also act as a primer. Plotters are 
not new, though. Laboratories have 




The Iwatsu SR-6602 

used X-Y plotters to produce hard- 
copy output from many electronic 
devices, not just computers, for a 
number of years. Manufacturers 
originally passed ever the plotter as a 
micro peripheral in favour of dot- 
matrix printers. But as colour 
computers began to appear it was 
obvious that a colour printer was 
more appropriste. Multi-colour 
ribbons didn't qtihe work and ink-jet 
technology was still too expensive. 
Plotters were the answer. 
The two main drawbacks with 



plotters are speed and colour 
density. Although high-priced 
plotters can plot quite respectable 
rates lover lOOOmm/sec) home- 
computer plotters (under $1000) 
barely reach 60mm/sec (painfully 

slow). This is not so important to the 

home user but the small business 
may need to look at machines over 
$5000 for more serious work. 

Colour density becomes apparent 
when doing "screen dumps". The 
act of plotting is ideal for line 
drawings and graphs but cannot 




Introducing the 

Little Big Board 



as featured in 
ETI Oct '83 




From 

$294.00 

(incl. tax) 



•• Complete Single Board Computer 

• Runs CP/M 2.2 

• Z8GAat4MHz 

• 64K on board RAM 

• 8" and 5 l /i" DS/DD disk interface 

• Full STD Bus interface to over 1 .000 other cards 

• Two RS-232 pons 

• Baltery-backed real-lime clock/calendar 

For further information phone or write to: 



THE GRAPHICS PARTNER FOR YOUR P.C. 
AN INTELLIGENT PLOTTER FROM IWATSU 





IWATSU. 



Priced from 
$1295 



Japan 's leading supplier of Quality 
oscilloscopes and logic analysers 
also manufacture 

SR6602 FLAT BED INTELLIGENT PLOTTER 

_ Single Pen or Optional 6 colour pens 

"-. Plotting speed I50mm/sec on A3 size paper 

30 Intelligent Commands include Printer Mode 
..: CENTRONICS. RS232C, GPIB interfaces available 
~: Ideal peripherals fo-r all PERSOMAL COMPUTORS 
Call us tor a -demonstration 

GTS ENGINEERING LTD 

5? Bioacway P.O Ro« 9613 Netvmarknt. AK 
Tel' 5-f$-7'-«6 Tal9t: NZ&5430 
($1 Fca"W"SlOn St. Wellington P O. Box Z7-3S7 
Tel: ??6-701 TeBx: NZ30280 




National's NEW Digital Plotters 

Oder an intelligent choice for A3 and A4. high speed, multi-colour. 
ni'iiiti-iiniui facts, iniulliyent digital plotters (or graphics app ications. 

The range includes: 

National VP-6802A A-3 Plotter — high speed 450mnvsec. 8 colour 

graphics, electrostatic paper holddown. continuous plotting Win roll 
chart advance option. Simple programming and built-in generators for 
circles, arcs, pie sections, grids and dot-dash lines. Charactei generator 
included lor over 1 00 alphanumeric ASCII characters, 8-bit 
paratlel/RS232CIEEE-488 interfaces, compact lightweight and quiet. 

National VP-6801 A A-4 Plotter — As for Model VP6802A but speed at 
4O0mm/sec and 6-colour graphics, portable with carrying handle. 

National VP-6801A 
A-4 plottei 





'W 



From S2532 

Sole N.Z. Distributors — Demonstration units available on request. 



National VP-6802 A3 plotter from $35$5 



Software for these plotters: 

IBIX High speed mglti-colour business graphics 

— Understanding and absorbing numerical tables can be a difficult 
and slow process, ruining the costeffectiveness of planning. The 
numbDrs must be somehow visualized. IBIX is the program which 
makes Ihe visualizing for you. Using IBIX you can easily transform 
the m^st difficult number table into self-explanatory . high quality 
Businass graphics picture on the screen. If the picture is satisfying 
it can be immediately plotted on the paper or transparerfccy. With 
colours, eg: 3 dimensional bars. Vertical bar charts. Cumulative 
lines & pie charts. 



Wfm 



THE MICROCOMPUTER ELECTRONIC COMPANY LTD 



27 Great South Road. Newmarket, Auckland. 
P.O. Box 9224, Auckland. Telephone: 504-774. 



A subsidiary of Fisher & Payke* Ltd. 



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P.O.Box 827, 
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CHRISTCHURCH.NZ. 

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0(d«m CCMftJltA Mfftfitt* 



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BITS & BYTES - May, 1 984 - 15 



P€RIPH€RRLS 



reproduce the coloured regions of a 
ccrcon display v«ry wall. MuFti- 

colour. ink-jet printers are much 
more effective for this type of hard 
copy. Such printers are still a bit 
expensive for the home user but they 
should be among the next 
peripherals to "revolt". 

Now to Che survey proper. I have 
tried to glean information from as 
many sources as possible. All known 
outlets were contacted directly and I 
am grateful for the assistance of the 
distributors who supplied up-to-date 
information. If I missed anyone then 
they should contact me through Bits 
& Bytes magazine so any future 
survey can be more complete. 

The survey results cover most of 
the important features when 
choosing a plotter. Accuracy is not 
mentioned, but this is generally 
related to step size and price. No 
attempt is made to evaluate the 
plotters but watch out for reviews of 
the more popular models in future 
issues. First, I'll clarify some of the 
terms used. 

Price: This is in New Zealand 
dollars and includes the 40 per cent 
sales tax. Educational users don't 




The BMC B- 1000 

need to pay this. Some others may 
get away wiih jusl 10 per cent. 
Type: Roll - a roll of plan paper 
is led back and 
forth by pin-rollers. 
Tie pen is moved 
back and forth 
across a printer- 
type platen. 
Drum - a single sheet of 
paper is fed across 
a drum by friction. 
Tie pen is moved 
back and forth 
across the drum. 
Also known as a 



platen plotter. 
Flat - a pen is moved in 
four directions over 
a single sheet of 
paper lying on a 
"flat bed". 
Plot Size: On the roll type plotters 
only the horizontal size is usually 
given since theoretically any length 
can be produced. However, in 
practice the limit is about 100mm, 
after which inaccuracies in the feed 
mechanism become apparent. 

Step: This is a measure of the 
resolution of the plotter. The smaller 
the step size the better the 



Plotters available in N.Z. 



MODEL NAME 



PRICE 




PLOT SIZE 


SPEED 


STEP 




COLOUR 


SMZ 


TYP£ 


mm 


mm/s 


mm 


INTERFACE 


PENS 


1895 


drum 


257 x 392 


100 


.1 


S 


4 


2560 


drum 


297x420 


100 


.1 


PorS 


4 


46800 


drum 


865x1518 


1067 


.0125 


? 


4 


495 


roll 


115x - 


60 


.2 


P 


4 


1645 


roll 


191 x203 


170 


.05 


P&S 


4 


595 


roll 


115x - 


7 


.2 


? 


4 


495 


roll 


115x - 


60 


.2 


P 


4 


1950 


drum 


297 x 420 


106 


.127 


s 


1 


1838 


drum 


210x297 


380 


.025 


S,l or H 


2 


23478 


drum 


594x841 


600 


.025 


S&l 


8 


1707 


flat 


297 x420 


150 


.1 


P, S or I 


6 


2379 


flat 


210x297 


400 


.1 


? 


6 


399 


roll 


115x - 


60 


.2 


S 


4 


1495 


flat 


297x420 


150 


.025 


PorS 


8 


4192 


flat 


210x297 


250 


.05 


? 


4 



Apple 410 

BMC B1000 

Calcomp 965 
Casio 

C. ltohCX-4800 
Commodore 1 520 
Dick Smith 
Houston DMP-4Q 
HP 74/0A 
HP 7580B 
Iwatsu SR-6602 
National VP-6801 A 
SEGA SP-400 
WatanabeMP-1000 
Yew PL 2000 



Add Graphics Capability 
to your home, school, 
business or laboratory 




DMP-40 

A small, capable single pen plouer* using A3/A4 sized media. 
Perlec. for home, school, or business use. Boasts 0.005" step si/e 
and robust firmware to generate high resolution complex 
xlrawirgs quickly and accurately. Easily transported to act as an 
output device for more than one cornpmer. Low price belies its 
qualit> and capacity for generating superior graphics. Solid 
design and technology combine lo provide extreme reliability 
under heavy use. I/O is RS-232C (others available}. Price S1894. 

For father information send to: 



I S.D. MANDENO ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT CO. 

1 WO00HALL ROAD, EPSOM, AK 3. PH 600-008. TELGRMS "NUCLEONIC 



Dealer appointments open 



16 BITS&BVTES-MJv, ii 



P€RIPH€RALS 



HARDWARE R€VI€UJ 



resolution. 

Intorfaoe: P-Parollol, S-Seriol. 
I=IEEE, H=HP-IL. 

Colour Pens: Some one-pen 
plotters say "multi-colour". These 
require the pens to be exchanged 
manually (e.g. Houston). The others 
have multiple pen holders which 
change colours automatically under 
software control. 

Other points 

Some plotters are specified as 
"printer/plotters". This means they 
will operate like a normal printer with 
no additional soft-ware (i.e. you can 
LUST and LPRINT). A special 
character is used 10 switch to the 
plot mode. Other plotters will also 
produce text but may require a 
special control sequence 10 enable 
this. 

Epson should bo releasing its 

plotter in New Zealand later this 
year. I have not seen any specif- 
ications yet but its track-record 
suggests something worth waiting 
for. 

For more information on the 
plotters discussed in this survey you 
should contact the following 

suppliers: 

Control Electronics (C. koM, P.O. Box 
68-474, AUCKLAND. 




The Apple 410 

Dick Smiih Electronics, Piivate Bag, 
AUCKLAND. 

Tower Computing (SEGA). P.O. Box 
25-091. CHRISTCHURCH. 

Hewlett Packard (M.2.I Lid, P.O. Box 
9443. WELLINGTON. 

MDL (BMC, Epson). 24 Manukau Rd, 
Epsom. 

CED Distributors Ltd (Apple). P.O. Box 
31-245, MILFORD. 

S.D. Mandeno (Houston). 

AUCKLAND. 

W.G. Loatham (Watanabo). 

WELLINGTON. 

W. Arthur Fisher (YEW), AUCKLAND. 

Datamatic Computer Systems Ltd. 
(Catcomp). WELLINGTON). 



Changed your 
address? 

Please return Y ouir 
complete subscription 
label with the new 
address marked on it. 




The Apricot 

Elegant 
1 6-bit 

Britisher 

By Pip Forer 



The Apricot cones from the British 

firm, ACT. European manufacturer 
of the leading small-business 
microcomputer In Britain, the ACT 
Sirius. Its launch in 8ritain could be 
seen both as an a: tempt to capitalise 
on the considerable success of the 
Sirius and as a moans of challenging 
and upstaging the impact of the IMB- 
PC there. ACT seeks to bestow on it 
the mantle of "fourth generator 
computer." Just what does that 
actually mean in tlits case? 

The Apricot is another 

8086-famih/ based microcomputer 
capable of runnng MS-DOS and 
CPM-86 with cenain claims to IBM- 
PC compatibility but it also has some 
very useful attributes which 
distinguish it from the relentless 
stream of small-business models in 
its price class. To save time I will 
assume that the leader already has 
an interest in and general knowledge 
of 1 6-bit machines and will 
concentrate on the Apricot's unusual 
or particularly important features. 

There is an exciting air about the 
machine. It come? in a very elegant, 
transportable package, perhaps the 



Apricot 



first British produced micro to be 
truly attractive. It has a true 16-bit 
processor (the 8086, aided and 
abetted by an S089 for fast input 
and output) rather than the more 
normal hybrid 8088. The 8086 is 
potentially more powerful than the 
8088 although the difference may 
not be noticeable in many 
applications. Like the new Hewlett- 
Packard and Apple machines it uses 
the Sony 3 '/a in. disk drives with 
their bijou but robust hard-shell 

disks; twin drives are standard. At 

present these drives are single sided, 
giving about 315K storage, but 
double-sided options are expected. 
They are certainly quiet and efficient 
In operation and the disks are a 
considerable improvement on floppy 
floppies for secure packaging when 

out of the drives. 
The Apricot comes as three 

components. The monitor is 
monochrome (g*een) but of an 
unusual clarity. Supporting 800 by 
400 graphics resolution like its Sirius 
cousin, or 25 x 80 or 1 32 x 50 text. 

The housing is small, the screen area 
at a maximum, giving a neat unit. It 
sits on a rake-adjustable plinth that 
can be conveniently positioned 
anywhere within a broad groove on 
the top of the processor cabinet (or 
anywhere else for that matter). The 
processor unit is mainly notable for 
three things. The twin Sony drives 

are one, the 8086 a second. The 
third is the design, which allows the 
keyboard to be clipped to the base of 
the processor, a protective shutter to 
drop over the disk drives, and a 
handle to appear. The machine is 
now virtually a briefcase to carry 
. . . except lor the monitor, which 
will take up your other hand. Not in 



BUS a BYTES - May. 1! 



- 17 



HRRDUJnfK R€VI€W 






Microcomputer summary 



Processor: 

RAM; 

Disks: 

Monitor: 

Ports: 

Graphics: 

Keyboard: 



Operating system: 
Bundled software: 



Intel 8086. 

256K. 

Twin 3)4 In Sony Microdrives at 315 Kb each. 

9in 80 x 24 or 1 32 x 50 screen. 

Centronics parallel and 1 RS-232 serial. 

800 x 400 monochrome. 

Standard QWERTY plus numeric pad, 8 dedicated 

keys. 6 special (unction keys (reprogrammable) and 

40 x 2 character microscreen. Built in 

calendar/clock. 

MS-DOS 2-0, CPM-86 and Concurrent CP-M. GSX 

supplement. 

Spreadsheet, planner, considenblo configuration 

utility base, two BASICS. 



Yes! Osborne are still in business 
— and here to stay! 



CP/M 2.2 

WORDSTAR7MAILMERGE V2.26 

SUPEfiCALC V1.12 

MBASIC a CBASIC 

2 x 185K DISC DRIVES 

64K MAIN MEMORY 

1 x SERIAL PORT 

1 x PARALLEL PORT 

5" GREEN SCREEN ,4, 



£X=Ct/77V= 



$3143 



m 



CP/M 3.0 PLUS 
WORDSTAfi/MAILMERGE V3 
SUPERCALC a SUPE3DATA 

INTERCHANGE 
MBASIC & CBASIC 
PERSONAL PEARL 
UCSD SYSTEM 
USER-DEFINABLE 

CHARACTER SETS 
2 x 185K DISC DRIVES 
128K MAIN MEMORY 
V REAL TIME CLOCK 
PASSWORD PROTECTION 
2 x SERIAL PORTS 
1 x PARALLEL PORT 
7" AMBER SCREEN 



'H 



> 



T.. 



I 



$4950 



y 



These products are backed by the proven service and support ol r ' 
Sirius Systems Ltd. Talk to any Osborne user about how the Osborne 
has improved their productivity 

Contact us today and see how an Osborne portable persona, business 
computet ca/t be working lot you'. 



mys 



Systems 



SIRIUS SYSTEMS LIMITED 
2 MANUKAU ROAD. EPSOM. 
P.O. BOX 9645 NEWMARKET. 
PHONE 504-895 (3 LINES). 



the Kaypro class for portability but | 
certainly easily transportable. 
Starting at 256K the Apricot is 
already configured to handle] 
compilers and memory-intensive 
software such as Lotus 1-2-3 
efficiently. 

Microscreen in 

the keyboard 

The Apricot's main innovation is in 
the detachable keyboard. H is a 
nicely designed board in its own 
right: good feel and easy lay-out. Its 
real uniqueness, however, derives 
from the microscreen in its top right 
corner. This is a multi-purpose 
device comprising a two line, 40 

column, liquid crystal display with 
six grey pressure pads jusi below it. 
The display can provide numeric or 
alphanumeric information. It displays 
the clock time and date when the 
machine is powered up. This is 
permanently available through a 
battery-powered clock on the 
keyboard. i\ can also be used at any 
time as a calculator {say in the 
middle of writing a report) by using 
the special dedicated CALC button 
on the main keyboard. As a ' 
calculator it doesn't just add and 
subtract: it also has memory 
available to it and any results can be 
sent directly to the cursor position on 
the main screen. 

The nicest use of the microscreen, 
however, is for labelling the six 
special function keys (the pressure 
pads) that lie just below it. So many 
"easy driver" applications packages 
on various 16-bit machines utilise 
special function keys to drive them, 
but each key means different things 
at different times. Of course, you 
can remind the user what does what 
by writing to the main screen, but 
that may becluttery or inappropriate. 
The Apricot's microscreen allows 
you virtually to label the keys direct. 
As the meaning of the function keys 
changes so do their labels. The 
microscreen can also mimic the Jast 
two lines of text on the main screen. 
ACT suggests that it may be useful 
for inexperienced typists who want 
to look at the keyboard but still see 
what is being typed without lifting 
their heads! 

The microscreen is a great aid to 
user friendliness. It is helped by a 
row of eight dedicated keys that give 
access to special functions ot 
requests. CALC is one, HELP 
another. This emphasis on user- 
friendliness extends to the software, 
which comes set up with a> 
"manager" program that will display 



18 BITS & BYTES ■ Wb V . 1984 



HRRDWRR6 R€VI€UJ 







disk options and route the user either 
to applications or to routines thot 
modify his user environment. Many 
users can keep the operating 
system's murkier depths at arm's- 
length using these utilities; this 
makes the machine particularly 
useable by first-timers. 

The basic machine is quite a 
bundled package. It comes with 
version 2.0 of MS-DOS; a 
spreadsheet ISuperCalc); a highly 
versatile dia ry/engagoments/memo 
pad/appointments-book planner; 
Concurrent CPM-86; the GSX 
graphics extension; full configuration 
utilities; two BASICs; and 
asynchronous communications and 

background printer spooling 

packages . An adequate starter kh by 
any standards, and suitably 
documented. 

Totally compatible 
with Sirius 

That leads to general software 
availability. If you are buying a 
machine to do a job here and now 
this is an important, possibly 
paramount, consideration. The 
Apricot's compatibility with the IBM- 
PC market is limited, but it is totally 
compatible with Sirius software: 
applications can literally be ported 
from one machine to another. This 
gives access to an applications base 
from over 1 000 software suppliers in 
Europe and the United States 
developed over the last three years. 
In the 1 6-bit field that is a good base. 
It also includes some excellent "in- 
house" utilities such as the quite 
exceptional graphics toolkit. For the 
programmer the range of compilers 
and alternative operating systems is 
large, including Pascal, Fortran, 
Cobol and languages under the 
P-Systern. Again this draws heavily 
from ACT's large, established user 
base. 

The final question might be 
hardware expandability. The Apricot 
has two expansion slots and can also 
take an 808-7 numeric coprocessor 
and a built in auto-modem. The slots 

permit upgrade of RAM from its 
256K standard to (currently) 768K 
plus enhanced communications 
options. These include IBM 
communications emulators, net- 
working cards for LANs, and similar 
options. When augmented by the 
standard Centronics port and serial 
port this allows for most needs. It is 
suggested that hard disks will be 
available soon, too. 

Turn to page 22 







Casio FP-200 

Good for 
numbers and 
tele-links 

By Martin Downey 

When micros first appeared on the 
scene they were a marvel of 
miniaturisation. What once filled a 
room now left room on the average 
desk. Pocket computers went 
further still and they could well get 
lost on the average desk. But 
calculator keyboards and 1 1 
character displays did not do justice 
to the latent power of the 
electronics. Epson realised this and 
produced the HX-20 with full 
typewriter keyboard and 80 
character display. The success of the 
HX-20 has created a whole new 
family of computers sometimes 
known as "lap computers". 

With big names such as NEC and 
Tandy, Casio has now entered the 
market with the new FP-200. Unlike 
the Epson, which can have both 
printer and cassette recorder built in, 
Casio decided :o use full-size 
peripherals and expand the display to 
160 characters. Other manufac- 
turers have extended the display to 
320 characters, but with the 
associated increase in price. 

The computer, finished in off- 
white and grey, has a very 
professional look. The keyboard is a 
proper full-carry QWERTY with the 
addition of function and cursor keys. 



The Cash FP-200 
The programmable function keys can 
be set up by the user with up to 15 
characters each. Default values are 
loaded on RESET but definitions 
along with all programs, variables 
and CETL files are retained evVi 
when the computer is switched off. 
The REMOTE switch is used to 
reserve power when a cassette 
recorder is not in use. The MODE 
switch selects either BASIC or CETL 
(database/spreadsheet). Although 
graphics characters can be entered 
directly from the keyboard they are 
not shown on the keys for aesthetic 
reasons (Casio would rather the 
FP-200 looked like an IBM than a 
Spectrum). 

At the bacK of the machine ate a 
Standard Centronics printer port, 
floppy-disk expansion port, the 300 
baud cassette port (slow but reliable 
with standard cassette recorders), 
and an RS232C serial port This 
gives the FP-200 an awful lot of 
communications power. Underneath 
the machine are compartments for 
batteries and additional RAM/ROM. 
The right side has plugs for the 
optional AC adapter and 10-key 
keypad. A keypad can also be 
enabled on the main keyboard 
translating the keys UIOJKLM to 
4561230. The left of the machine 
has the on/oft switch. 

The display is 20 characters by 
eight lines and is fully dot 
addressable to give 160 x 64 
resolution. A thumb-wheel allows 
the screen contrast to be adjusted 
for best viewing angle. The machine 
is very portable easily fitting inside 
the average briefcase. Battery life is 
quoted at either six or 1 1 hours, 

BITS ABATES - May. 1984 19 



HflRDUJHR€ R€VI€UJ 



' ■/' •/.'. "ra>;-xH4«e«4«BM»?-K<» - ■:■ ■ - 



hubmkm: ■:■::«:■:: 



depending on type (for penlight). 
Two additional batteries supply trie 
continuous memory and these 

should be replaced every six months. 

No rechargable batteries or recharger 
are supplied (some other Casio 
machines come with these-) 

So far so good. But the FP-200 
contains a serious design fault that 
largely negates the otherwise 
excellent keyboard. There is no key 
roll- over! This means that if you 
press a key while another key is still 
depressed the second key is ignored. 
Even the cheapest computers 
usually have two-key rollover. A 
touch typist would be driven to turn 
in an early grave. Even a two-finger 
typist like myself was forced to slow 
down. I would be very surprised if 
other "lap computers" made it to the 
production stage with such a 
deficiency. It's sad because under 

the keyboard tho FP-200 packs some 
very powerful system software. 



Spreadsheet and 
database 



The FP-200 comes with 32K ROM 
which includes a very powerful 
BASIC and a spreadsheet-database 
called CETL. You can switch 
between the two and exchange data 

freely. The amount of memory 

allocated to each is selectable using 
the AREA command. 

CETL is a very simple yet powerful 
piece of software. It lets you create 



up to 10 files, each containing data 
in the form of a tasle. The elements 
within the table are ordered by 
record and item. This is very much a 
simplified version of ihe VisiCalc 
spreadsheet but is also a useful 
database system. Once the file is set 
up it can be easily edited. You can do 
part or full sorts off any KEY in 
ascending of descending order. The 
search command allows use of most 
conditional oporstors including, 
greater than, less than, AND OR, 
XOR and NOT. 
The only drawback when using 

Program listing 



1 ' ' - SCROLLING WINDOW; " 

2 ' BY MARTIN DOWNEY 

'.flltowi a wmCQw to be scrcl led 
4 * across a CETL table uoin? tho 
z. 'four "fo™ l.€ys. 
6 ' 

10 DEFFW S*<X«)«t£FT*(X*< 
. . r. ■ 

K> COL-H PCW=i: CLS 

z<j rrwot»10i rtia::=io 
:-5 ' • 10x30 ti*i« 

77 T* = "SNN«NNNN1"U»" 

■ i .0* Sst LtBB 5tnn- rest 

39 ' are Munttric. 

40 GO SUE 150s 5DS»JS> 2ZO 
50 CHftX«LEN(S*!1 ." 

T<" l=flSC< IMKEVf) -- F"0 

90 ir 1-30 BND RCW--1 THEM 

MH-RQW-ls l r =5 
■-". :■ 1=31 and RCw;r.-i.V'-- L them 
S0N=PGM*1? FM 
100 ir I-S9 AND CCL I THEM 

C0L=COL-I= F=J 
110 IF I=2S AND CCU CHftX-20 THEN 

COL-COL' 1" r=i 
I2< :• F=l THEN GCSUE z~o 
130 SQtO "" 



CETL is the limited display width, 
l-airly large tables can be created, bur, 
these wrap around on the display 
and look messy. The option of 
sideways scrolling would have been 
a nice feature. Using the optional 
printer improves matters somewhat. 
However, the ease with which 
BASIC can access CETL files meant 
that I was able to write a simple 
program which made the screen 

appear like a window on the 
spreadsheet similar to VisiCalc (see 
program listing). This gives a neater, 
more useful display. 



140 

! 50 

.:.■. 

: H 



ieo 

i ■-■ ; 

? : ■'. 
2K 



FDR !■! TO RMfl 1 ' 
£*(!>=-" 
TOT J*i TO IKfift 

IF MIM W 1, I)»"N" THEM 
S*=2TR*(FL' ' .' ■ :■ ELSE 
■ i ' '. . t. - 

i • =s*(VJ -"'-I 51 ■ ■ 
NEHT 3 
NEXT i 
RETURi 



..--:. uocfi re ..-■. 

■i 1=0 it .- 
=50 PRINT MiMCS* II^ROW) £DL 
- 

ME1 1 : 

:-•: peru 



Computer posts 



Mr Kevin Gormican, an American 
with a background in mainframe and 
mini computing, has been appointed 
manager of the MicroMart Com- 
puters, Ltd, retail store in Dominion 

Road, Auckland. 




SPECIAL FLOPPY DISK OFFER 



V C Power Ltd offers a li ne ranae of 5. 25' I loppy diskette s. These diskettes 
.ue made in the Silicon V.illey in the Untied Statesand imported direct by 
P.C.Power Ltd. For ihat reason we am offer them iii ihcic sensftiloral 
pikes for a limited introductory period. 

Take the opportunity to evaluate these diskettes lor yourself with I lie added 
assurance thai they ore guaranteed to be I 00% cnor free for 5 years. 

INTRODUCTORY iSQRMAl 

5.25" FLOPPY DISKS srtciAi retail 

$0 95 each 



D.S.D.D *5.99 ««h 

S,£,I>,p, , t , $4.50 each 



S7.50 each 



TO: DEPT BB4.P.C. POWER LTD, 

420 HIGH ST. LOWER HUTT. Telephone (04) 693-050 



Pease rush me 
end ' at 

Name 

Ataess . 
Ciy 



5.25"D.S.D-0 PiskeHesaiS5.'99e«h 
5.25'' S.S DD. D*s*eties al S4.50 e«h 



-■i;:iu:- 



MyctecuefSiS 



I I II I J 



Is erdweO Pfiase criaige my tfsa B Can! 

i i i i \-r-\-T 



S^iati/e 



E»prcs 



P.C. 

Personal 
lomputer 



POWER 



Ltd 



420 High St, Lower Hutt, Telephone 693-050 



20 BITS & BVTES - Way. 1984 



<v 



Only a mite... but ALMIGHTY! 

Casio PB-700 with 20-character by 4-line display, Jarge mpmory. 
Plus, optional 4-color printer, and microcassetfe storage. 



FA-10: 

Pto ttorp* inter 
wic" caisoue 
interface 




liHIBBBB_aD| 

aDnaaaaiiai j nana 
^uuuuLiauaan a a a o 

£t ooBsa 



aoaoaoDS 

IbbbbbbbbbbbbI 

Wide, 20-character by 4-line display, 
lets you put graphics with ease. 
Casio introduces the first large-size liquid crystal 
display for pockel computers. 20 characters by A 
lines. 160 x 32 dols And high resolution. Make 
graphs, graphic characters, etc. Do virtually 
anything you can imagine. 

Optional 4-color mini pi ottef-pr inter features 

114 mm wide paper roll. 

Top among pocket computers. 

Now get easy to read material. And 4-color 



P3-700: Pocke i computer 



Picture iliowi complete iv»tom 
including optional FA-10 and CM 1 



capacity can make any graph possible. 

Pocket size, yet up to 1 6KB RAM memory! 

In standard configuration, PB-700 has about 
25KB of ROM and 4KB ol RAM. Add up to three 
more RAM packs I0R-4. option), and the RAM 
capacity jumps to about 16KB. 

• Hitjh-orecisio<i deoennl calculation* MuHiplo lunclions 

• Convenient one-key commands • Maximum uf 1 
program areas » independent <0-kuy calculate* 

t ? wtwwrs • Prooiam/d.ila save (unction 




Now with more jnd better function*. And it is completely portable. 



Light and portobl*. it feature* a un*aue 
CETL tCfino EniyTablB Language) thai 
gives you ipread sho«l programming 
without computer knowledge. Eaty to 
road 30-charocicr bv 8-lin* diiplay. 8K"8 



RAM expandable to 32KB. 32KB ROM 
10 40KB. Optional pfifipheroU ten you 
boild n system IQ mee-i your urtiquo 
need i. 



CASIO FP-2Q0 

Handy Personal Compuler 

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FP-1011PL 

•5 color mini plotiei-prini 
• 7?1>Wll ■ 310IDI ■ rti<Ht mm 




P-1021FD1 
Mini I loppy disk drive 
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MONTEK 



NAME _ 
ADDRESS 



AAA Vm • 



AVFMBEHQF rnq MONACO group Of companies 



J Mail to Moniek Equ ipmwit Ltd. p.O Box 76-1I&. Auckland „ 



BITS 6 BYTES - May. 1984 - 21 



HARDWARE R€Vf€UU 



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To use the power of CETL fullv vou 
will need more than the 8K of 
memory supplied, probably 24K. 
This will cost you another $390, 
which makes the FP-200 less 
attractive in price. The floppy disk 
option with less than 72K storage 
also seems overpriced. The printer is 
the only peripheral realistically 
priced, but since the FP-200 will take 
any Centronics compatible printer it 
has to be. 

The editing features on the FP-200 
are so good that, with a little 
ingenuity, the CETL language can be 
made to perform like a simple text 
editor. This is a bonus that Casio 
doesn't even mention. 

Fine version 

of BASIC 

The BASIC on the FP-200 is a very 
good implementation indeed. It is 
virtually Microsoft standard with a 
number of enhancements. Variable 
names can be up to 255 characters 
long {all significant), in upper and 
lower case. Arrays can have up to 
three dimensions. Up to tOprograms 
can be held concurrently in memory 
and you can chain between these 
using the GOTO PROG and GOSUB 
PROG commands. The editor is very 
good. You can step backwards and 
forwards through a program using 
the cursor keys, changing lines as 
you go. 

The inclusion of numerous 
mathematical functions, double 
precision (19 digits! and a very 
powerful set of statistical commands 
(sum. mean, standard deviation, 
linear regression, and more) should 
appeal to the student and 
engineering factions- The TIME$ and 
DATE$ functions are very useful: 
they continue even when the 
machine is switched off. 

Graphics are well implemented 
with DRAW, QUAD, and POINT 
commands. The 64 x 160. dot- 
addressable graphics give good 
resolution on the small screen, and 
there is also a set of pre-defined 
graphics characters similar to thai 
found on most dot-matrix printers. 

File handling includes all the tried 
and trusted Microsoft commands 
such as, FIELD. PUT. GET. PRINTS, 
and inputs allowing both sequential 
and random files. The device 
addressed can be the cassette, the 
floppy disk or the RS232C port. 

However, with all the enhance- 
ments there are two inexcusable 
omissions from true Microsoft. There 
is no STRINGS function and no ON 
ERROR statement. 

22 - BITS 4 BVTCS - Uoy. 1934 



Microcomputer Summary 



WW04 P +W> 



Name: 

Manufacturer: 
Microprocessor: 

Clock speed: 

RAM: 

ROM: 

Input-Output: 



Keyboard: 



Display: 
Languages: 

Graphics: 

Sound: 
Price: 

Options: 



Peripherals: 

Other Features: 

Reviewer's Ratings 
(Out of 5): 



Casio FP-200. 

Casio Computer Company Ltd, Japan. 

MSM80C85 (8085 compatible). 

6.144 MHz. 

8K standard (Expandable internally to 32KJ, 

32K standard (Expandable internally to 40K 

with 24K RAM). 

Centronics printer port. RS232C (300 baud), 

cassette (300 baud}, floppy-disk expansion 

slot. 

57-key standard QWERTY. 4 cursor. 

5 programmable, and 5 other function keys; 

10-key key-pad option ($89.95). 

20 characters by 8 lines built in LCD display. 

BASIC (enhanced Microsoft standard), CETL 

(Casio Easy Table Language). 

64 x 160 dot-addressable monochrome plus 64 

graphics characters. 

None. 

S795. 

8K CMOS RAM packs <$195 each). 

8K ROM utility pack (price unknown). 

AC adapter {price unknown). 

4 colour mini plotter-printer ($459). 

5.25 inch mini-floppy disk SSSD 72K ($1195). 

Continuous CMOS memory. 

Handheld portable computer. 



Documentation 5. ease of use 3, language 4, 
expansion 3. value for money 3. 
Review Unit frcm Turners Ltd, cnr Colombo St and Tuaw St, Chris tchurch. 



The documentation included with 
the FP-200 is vey good indeed. The 
Operation Manuel gives full 

instructions for jsing the computer 
with example BASIC programs and 
CETL applications. Memory maps, 
pin- outs and other technical 
information are all supplied. The 
Reference Man-jaf gives a clear 
concise description of all the BASIC 
and CETL commands. The book is 
very thorough but may be heavy 
going for the novice programmer. 
Summary 

The FP-200 is certainly not a 
beginner's comouter. but to the 
student or professional it offers 
some very powerful features. The 
ease with which the RS232C 
interface can je accessed from 
BASIC makes the machine 
particularly suitfble for remote data 
entry and later "down-loading" to 
another computer for further 
processing. However, if the FP-200 

was able to interface directly to a 

VDU then no secondary computer 

wquld be needed. I am sure future 
lap computers will contain this 
feature. Certainl/ the FP-200 already 
has the internal power to rival full 
size computers. The machine: 

• Has very gooc system software. 

• Has no keyboard roll-over. 

• Its optional RAM is overpriced. 

• It is aimed at the professional user. 



From page 19 



All in all, the Apricot can match or 
beat most of its 16-bit rivals. It is 
small, neat, powerful and endowed 
with a good software base. Design 
for friendliness in hardware and 
software has enhanced its value to 
the small user, and many of its 
hardware features are taking 
advantages of current-generation 
thinking. It comes bundled with 
some very useful software and 
access to much more. For really 
demanding specialist users wanting 
to stay with 16 bits and needing 
more expansion slots or some very 
specialist software a Sirius, IBM-PC- 
XT, or NEC-APC might be more 
attractive. 

However, the real challenge will 
probably emerge over the next year 
with low-cost 32-bit machines, but 
they will clearly take time to develop 
a complete software base. 
Meanwhile the 1 6-bit market will 
grow. 

The Apricot is a well-provided 
starter system that is clearly 
competitive in this market. Its edge 
over its many rivals will depend on 
its price. Although figures as low as 
$5800 have been quoted, it seems I 
that the final price may be creeping I 
nearer $7600 tax paid. 



HnRDWflR€ fi€Vl€W 

TelGvideo portable 

Serious 

business 

contender 



By Gordon Findlay 

Televideo is a company well 
respected for its high-quality 
terminals, and more recently its 
desktop computers. Like many other 
companies, Televideo has noticed 
that one of the fastest growing 
segments of the computer market is 
for business portables. Televideo's 
entry, the TPC-I {Televideo Portable 
Computer, 1), is the result. 

The Televideo is a light-coloured- 
box, with screen and disk drives in 
the Iront, plugs, switches, and 
connectors in the back. The unit has 

a flap underneath which folds out, 

allowing the computer to tilt. The 

keyboard is detachable, connected 
to the computer by a curled cord. 
The keyboard also Tilts. The 
keyboard cable must reach right 
around to the back of the computer; 
a small plug on the front would have 
been very convenient. 

The case is made from injection- 
moulded plastic, which seems fairly 
rugged, although the demonstration 
model I was using had a broken 
catch. These small pieces o\ plastic 
seemed rather fragile, as did the 
removable back cover which covers 
the connectors and holds the power 
and keyboard cords in transit. The 

keyboard latches on to the front, 

covering the screen and drives, 
when being shifted. The TPC-I is no 
feather weight, at 1 3.6kg, but is still 



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-I I I I I I I I I I I I 
_M I M I I I I I I I 




The Televideo TPC- 1 

quite portable, at least from office to 

car. 

The screen measures 22.9cm (9in) 
diagonally, and has an amber 
phosphor. The resolution is very 
good, and I was ale to read text 

easily with the keyboard in my lap. 

The text display is 24 lines of 80 
characters; a graphics mode allows 
640 x 240 pixels resolution, not in 
colour. A neatly -ecessed brightness 
control on the front panel made 
adjustment easy 

The text screen may be normal or 
inverse video, sslected by either a 
dip switch on the back panel or 
(more normally) Irom software. Text 
may be underlined, blinking, half- 



intensity. Or even invisible (foj 
passwords and so on). These are 
selected from the keyboard or a 
program by sending sequences of 
characters to the screen ("escape 
sequences"). Sequences also 
provide for placing the cursor at any 
point on the screen - a program can 
define a function for this very easily. 
The keyboard has many keys. As 
well as the usual alphabetic, 
numeric, and so on, there are 10 
function keys, a numeric -control 
keyboard, control, escape and 
■alternate keys, and some others 
which curiously are not used. The 
function keys may also be used with 
the control key, and some may be 



TELEVIDEO 

PORTABLE 

now available! 



COMPUTER 
■ PLUS 



also Spectrum 

Our guarantee on home compuiers is 
a year a month and a flay. 



Computers, books, 
magazines and 
software for home 
and business. 



103 Riccarlon Rd, Christchurcli, Ph. 488-519 



BITS & BYTES - May. 1 984 23 



HRftDUJflftC R€VI€UJ 



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shifted, giving a total of 32 different 
seyuunwii which may bo assigned. 
Programming the function keys was 
easy, but I couldn't, find how to save 
them to disk - I hope there is a way. 
The shift-alt key combination toggles 
the screen between text and 

graphics displays, and the computer 
is reset by the Ctrl-Alt-Del sequence, 
which is almost becoming the 
standard. The numeric keypad keys 
also function as control keys, 
depending on the "position" of the 
"numeric lock" key. As this key 
doesn't lock down, and has no light 
or other indicator, it is impossible to 
say which mode the keys are in. The 
same can be said for the "Caps 
Lock". 

The most irritating thing about the 
computer was the racket made by 
the keyboard. The keys made a 
mechanicaf noise as they were 
pressed, and another coming back 
up. An ■electronic "click" made three 
noises per keystroke, which is at 
least two too manyl The electronic 
click can be turned off, but the 
noises still made the keys sound 
rattly. The feel was quite good, 
perhaps a little sloppy. 



CP/M nicely 
implemented 



Two double-sided, mini-floppy 
drives are mounted vertically 
alongside the screen, with 368. 6K 
characters capacity each. The 
format is the same as that used by 
the TS803/8O3H desktop 

computers, providing for some 
compatibility. The operating system 
is CP/M - quite a good 
implementation, with sensible error 
messages such as "Please shut the 
door of disk A", rather than "8DOS 
ERROR ON A: SELECT". It was 

interesting to test the operating 
system by such (usually foolish) 
actions as copying a disk from one 
drive to another while opening and 
closing the doors randomly. Each 
time the computer lor operating 
system anyway) was able to 
recover, tell me to shut the door, and 
continue without losing data. 

Other interfaces and connectors 
on the back panel provide for serial 
and parallel output (to printers, 
modems, etc.), with switch or 
software selection of communica- 
tion parameters, A connector is 
provided for the Televideo 
"Supermouse", which is a throe- 
button mouse, available as an extra 
for about $430. These connectors, 
and the on-off switch, are all in a 
recessed section of the back panel. 



Microcomputer summary 



Name: 

Manufacturer: 
Microprocessor: 
Clock speed: 
RAM: 

I/O ports: 
Keyboard: 

Display: 
Languages: 

Graphics: 

Sound: 

Cost; 



Options: 

Other features: 
Test machine 




TPC-I. 

Televideo Computer Systems. 

2-80A. 

4 MHz. 

64K. expandable to 128K user RAM, 32K 

screen RAM. 

RS-232, Centronics, mouse. 

Typewriter style, detachable. 

24 lines by 80 characters, amber screen built 
in, with various attributes (see text). 
Many CP/M, e.g. WBASIC. 
One colour. 640 x 240 resolution. 
Yes. 

With twin drives, built in screen, TeleSolutions 
software. Cashman etc. $4,590 (including 40 
percent sales tax). 

SuporMouse $431, other peripherals as 
required. 

Compatibility with other Televideo machines. 
supplied by Computer Plus, Christchurch, 



The TPC-1 has a graphics 
capability especially selected for use 
In business. The resolution is very 
good. Programming is taken care of 
by the GSX extension to the 
operating system which provides a 
collection of calls for common 
operations such as drawing lines, 
shading, and so on. A utility 
(GENGRAF) is piovided to link an 
applications program with the GSX 
loader. The software supports a 
number of printers, and plotters if 

required, by using independent 

device drivers, details of which are in 
the System Reference Manual- A 
sample of the Teevideo graphics is 
shown in an illustration - this was 
produced using a dot matrix printer. 

Documentation for the machine is 
in two parts. A good, well written 
user manual ccvers setting up, 
connection of peripherals, using the 
keyboard, forma King and copying 
disks and disk handling, at the novice 
level, with lots of illustrations. The 
Reference Manua I is not so sjmpl e of 
course, and co/ers much more 
ground. A useful chapter explains 
most CP/M commands, including the 
use of STAT and PIP. Almost 
everything is included and tables and 
specifications are collected In 
appendices for easy reference. The 
manual is fairly well organised, 
although, I still cannot save (unction 
key definitions - maybe I didn't look 
hard enough. 

Software comes with the machine 
of course. As w&ll as the operating 
systems and giaphics extension, 
utilities for copying and formatting 
disks, setting up the system (e.g. 
connecting the mouse) and 
demonstration programs are 
included. The TeleSolutions soft- 



ware package comes with the 
machine as well. This is a text- 
processor. TeleWnte, a spreadsheet. 
TeleCalc, TeleChsrt for making 

graphs and charts from TeleCalc 

data, and Cashman. an invoicing, 

stock control, and debtors 
accounting package. 

TeleWrite is billed as an executive 
word processor, and is quite easy to 
use, although not as comprehensive 
as a full wordprocessor, which 
presumably is for a typist rather than 

an executive' 

TeleCalc is a different spreadsheet 
- menu driven rather than command 
driven — but very powerful and easy 
to use. TeleChart provides for 
production of pie, bar and line 

graphs, in a variety of styles and 
combinations. This also is menu 
driven. 

The TPC-I is a serious contender in 
the business portable market. 
particularly as the Televideo range of 
desktop computers is compatible 
with it. 



COMPUTER FOR SALE: 

COMMODORE 
CBM 8032 

With 8050 dual disk drive, 8024 
1 32 col. printer, debtors, invok- 
ing, payroll, VTslcalc. 

CONTACT: 

Grahame Craig 

Woo Ire »t International 

Phone (071) 393-668 

Hamttton, 



24 fills & BYTES - May. '084 



HARDUJRR€ R€VI€W 



:"■:-'■■::::: ::: :: :: 



Home Sharp 
with printer 
and plotter 



By Shayne Doyle 
This computer is the latest home 
market offering in New Zealand by 
Sharp. It is billed as a "clean 
machine", referring lo its lack of a 
resident language interpreter. It is 
also clean in design: a full 
configuration of computer, key- 
board, cassette deck, and 
printer/plotter is in a compact 
package about the same size as an 

average electric typewriter. In 

Britain, the base model without 
cassette and printer is the MZ700. 
Add the cassette drive and it 
becomes the MZ721 , which is -the 
base version on the Australasian 
market. Further addition of the four- 
colour printer plotter makes it an 
MZ731. 

The front lower face is occupied 
by the keyboard, 58 main keys, four 
Cursor keys to the right, five shiftable 
programmable function keys to the 
upper left, and above the cursor 
keys, INSert and DELete keys, which 
when shifted, give home or clear 
screen home. The keys are true key- 
switches and have what I feel is an 
ideal degree of resistance. It is not an 

"ergonomic" keyboard, but is very 
nice to use, and best of all, the keys 
are quiet and do not "clack" as so 
many keyboards do. 

Each standard key has two 

graphics characters marked on the 

lower face, and these are activated 
by a GRAPH key. The two characters 
are then accessed by shift/unshift. 
An ALPHA key reverts it to the 
standard upper case ASCII set. While 
there is no obvious CAPS LOCK key, 
pressing SHIFT 81 ALPHA performs 
this function (this is not documented 
in the manual). The function keys are 
assigned present values when 
BASIC is loaded, but may be 
dynamically redefined directly or by 
program statement, to a maximum 
of 1 5 characters per key. 
The rear top face o1 the computer 

is divided into three sections, the left 

third being power supply ventilation 

grille. The centre takes the plotter, 
and the right third contains the 
cassette drive. On the rear panel is 
a comprehensive array of I/O 
connectors for: second cassette 
deck, two joysticks, system bus, 




The Sharp MZ-721 
parallel printer interface, speaker 
volume control, system reset, frame 
ground terminal, AC power socket, 
on/off switch, RF modulated video to 
TV, composite video to B/W monitor, 
and RGB colour nonitor output. The 

joystick sockets would not match 
the plugs fitted to most joysticks, 
and the parallel printer socket is an 
edge connector extension of the 
main PC board. These are fine if 
using Sharp supplied cables/ 
joysticks, but a problem if using 
anything else. 

26 CHARACTER flODE 

NORMAL 40 CHARACTER MODE 



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Sharp print examples 

The black and white monitor 
output is good and steady, but no 
matter how well tuned my National 
TV, I could not get a good colour 
picture; a high decree of colour wash 
and blurring was evident. Another 
recently reviewed machine produced 
monitor quality R r colour on this TV. 
I was unable to check the RGB 
output, but if /ou have seen a 
computer operating into an RGB 
monitor, you will know what the 
quality is like. 

The normal display format of 25 
lines of 40 characters is a 1K 

"window" on the true display area 
of 2K. The "window" may be 
scrolled around this virtual display by 
using the cursor <eys. 

A machine -coce monitor program 
is resident in ROM, allowing 



LOAD/SAVE/VERIFV from cassette, 
memory modify, print memory, jump 
to address, and transfer control to 
free RAM area. The rest of memory 
(about 61 K bytes) is available for 
machine-code programs. The other 
languages are loaded from tape by 
the monitor load command. 

With BASIC loaded, free user 
memory is reduced to 36. 4K bytes. 
This version of BASIC is a bit unusual 
in that it also has a machine-code 
monitor embedded in it, with the 
following commands: switch output 
between display or printer, dump 

memory, modify memory, find 
string, move memory block. 
SAVE.'LOAD/VERIFY memory to 
cassette, call subroutine, and return 
to main program. Alternatives to the 
BASIC interpreter are Pascal and the 
Zen editor/a9sembler. 

Although it only takes about three 
minutes to load BASIC on the 1 200 
baud cassette deck, it must be added 
to the program load time. An 
obviously better scheme is to 
provide pageable Eprom space as 
some machines do now. 

Drawback with 

the graphics 

The second major drawback with 
this computer is the lack of any 
standard high resolution graphics 

facility or programmable character/ 
sprite system. The normal 25 x 40 
character screen has a very low 
resolution 80 x 50 pixel system 
accessed by the standard 
SET/RESET statement pair, having 

BITS & BYTES - May. 1384 - 25 






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an extra parameter to define the pixel 
colour. Theie ate, howevei, d veiy 
large number of predefined graphics 
characters - about &24 in all, and 
these may be combined to form 
some quite complex images. 
The BASIC dialect supplied for the 

computer is not remarkable; it has 
some good features while omitting 
one or two essential constructs. It 
does have a full screen editor and will 
accept everything on a line no matter 
where the cursor is placed. The 
notable extras are a MERGE 
statement that allows other source 
lines to be read off cassette and 

appended to the current program; 
BYE which jumps into Ihe BASIC 
machine code monitor program; the 
function key handling commands 
KEY LIST and DEF KEY. It provides 
extensive facilities for formatted 
printing, and a set of five commands 
for handling cassette data files. 
While not permitting full motor 
control over the tape deck, it will 
stop the deck when reading has 
finished. 

The commands for handling the 
printer/plotter are extremely versatile 

and allow the BASIC programmer to 

manipulate this unit easily. For 
accessing machine code routines 



Order any 1 back issues for only $1 

(individual copies S1.50 each) 

— all back issues contain hints and programs 
for popular brands, a host of microcomputer 
information and the following major articles! 



Nov Review of 8BC computer and 
Issue 3 Microprofessor 1 , start of 

sones on select*ig a micro for 
a small business, feature on 
microcomputers for 
accountants. 

Feb Hand-held computer- feature; 
Issue 5 review of Shis 1 and Epson 
HX-20. start of farming and 

education columns. 

Apnl Rdviow of IBM PC NEC PC 
Iss ue 7 &0OQ and N ew Zea land 
mode t'isk drives for 
System 80. New Sord 
column, 

May Computers rtl business 

Issue 8 feature. Review of 
Commodore 64. 



June 
Issue 9 



July 
Issue 1Q 



August 
Issue 1 1 



September 
Vol. 2No.1 

October 
Vol. 2 No. 2 



Guee to *arm software. 
reviews of Ofcvetu M20. 
&cfc Smith V\toard. 
Visicalc. 

Revews of Spectrum, 
BMCSQO.Supercalc. 
Compute Mate printer. 
Start of Microbee column. 

Hev£wsofSordM5. 
Franklin Ace. Mannesmann 
prirt;er. Calcstar. Word- 
processing featire. Start 
Of Commodore 64 column, 

Revews of V2200. 
Colcur Gemo. Multiplan. 

Communicatjorts feature. 

BevewsofNECApC, 

EpscnQX-10, Cas>o 

FP 1000 and JR 100. 
1 6 Bit fcaure. 



November Reviews of Caso PB 100. 
Vol. ENo.3 fVoteus.CromemcoC-10. 

Dec/Jan Summary of all computers 
Vol 2 Wo 4 under $5000 in N.l 1 

pages of programs. Reviews 
of Spectravideo, Oric 1 , 
Com* 35. Printers under 
$5000. 

Summary of alt computers 
$5-1 0.000 in N.2. Reviews 
of Sega, TI99, Franklin Ace 
1 200 and Epson FX-80 
printer- 
Reviews of Macintosh, 
HP 1 50, Z1 00, daisy wheel 
printers. Program special. 

Comnunications feature. 
Reviews of the Electron, 
DEC Rainbow. Penal II, 
Amust. 



Fab 

Vol 2 No 5 



March 
Vol 2 Mo 6 



April 

Vol 2 No 7 



Please note issues 1. 2. 4 and 6 are sold out and other stocks are limited (Issue 7 is available minus the cover) 

ORDER FORM is on the card in the centre of the magazine 

(or send us a note stating which copies you require together with your payment) 



26 - BUSaavIES M.iv. 198* 



This Year . . . 

don't buy your children a 

gift, buy them a future! 

Your children are the most precious investment you can ever maite. So it makes 
sense to give them the best possible start in life. 

And in 1984 that means making sure they know how to handle a computer. 
Because only the computer literate will make it in the decades to come. 

The new Sharp MZ721 Home Computer is the ideal Family Computer for you. Go 
along and see it, you'll be convinced, we are. 




MZ721 HOME COMPUTER 



• Large 64 K 
Bytes of Ram 

• Full Size 
Keyboard 

• Plugs into 
your TV 

• Expandable 

• 4 Colour 
Printer/ 
Plotter 
(Optional) 




• Includes 
Built in 
Cassette 
Recorder 

• Large 
Software 
Selection 
Available 

• Program 
in Basic/ 
Pascal or 
machine 
Languages 



Available from Authorised Sharp Stockists throughout NZ 
nz Distributers Excelsior Supply Co Ltd 

^» Wellington «y» Christchurch 
*"* 896-129 *-* 890-687 

CREATED FOR PERSONAL GROWTH 



4T& Auckland 

660-618 




HflRDLUnR€ R€VI€UJ 




Graphics. . . . 

Sharp siyie 

from BASIC. PEEK, POKE, USR and 

LIMIT are provided, the latter setting 

the upper limit of memory for BASIC 

to use — it sets an artificial RAM 

top for protecting machine-code 

routines. 

A useful statement concerned 
with the displav is PLOT ON/OFF. 
This allows the printer/plotter to be 
the display device — acting as both 
keyboard echo and output device 
(see example). This feature does 
allow limited use of the computer 
away from a video monitor or TV, 
although the printer goes through 
some amazing gyrations when 
waiting for INKEY input! 

The annoying omission is the lack 
of the IF . . . THEN . . . ELSE 
extension. This BASIC leaves off the 
ELSE part, restricting the power of 
IF , • • THEN. 

Printer/plotter 

versatile 

The printer/plotter is a versatile 
little device, particularly with the 
software support given it by Sharp. 

The printer may be operated in 

either text or graphic mode. The 
former provides for 26, 40 or 80 
characters per line. Other text mode 
instructions are SKIP for linefeed, 
PAGE to set lines per page, LIST/P, 
PRIMT/P and PRINT/P USING. TEST 
prints a four square test pattern in 
the four colours. In the GRAPHIC 

mode are commands to draw solid or 

varying de-gregs of dotted lines, 
circles, and axis lines. Pen lift and 
move, home and origin setting, and a 
statement that prints standard 
characters in anv direction and 
subject to a scaling factor of to 63. 
The printer/plotter has a tiny barrel 



that contains four micro biros and 
this revolves to select the different 
colours. A most amazing example of 
Japanese micro technology and a 
versatile peripheral for a home 
computer even though the paper is 
only 4.5 inches w/ide. 
Sound capabilities are not 

impressive: the machine does not 
use either of the two common three 
channel plus v/hite noise sound 
synthesiser chips, but has a single 



square wave generator. This 

produces a monbphonic orgart StylS 

of sound and is controlled by two 
statements, MUSIC specifying the 
note to be played and TEMPO the 
speed. 

The manual is one of the best I 
have seen for a while. Illustrated 
with cartoons and with plenty of 
examples throughout, following a 
brief tutorial, the BASIC section is 
arranged in logical operational 
groups: assignment, input/output, 
looping and branching, Data file I/O, 
etc. The manual includes several 
memory maps, monitor user manual, 
circuit diagrams, charts of monitor 
subroutines (addresses and details), 
character code tables, a good Z80 
instruction set list, and a monitor 
source listing. 

In summary, I feel this computer 
will find a niche in the New Zealand 
market. It does have a few 
advantages. The built-in cassette 
and optional compact printer/plotter 
are very convenient and may help to 

overcome the language graphics 
drawbacks. The price, of $995, puts 
it in a bracket that offers some 
excellent value-for-money competi- 
tion. A large range of software is 

available for it: games, educational 
tapes, word processor, personal data 
handling programs, club member- 
ship, and many more. 



Microcomputer summary 




Name: 

CPU: 

RAM: 



ROM: 

Display: 



Graphics: 

Languages: 
Keyboard: 



Audio: 
I/O: 



Price: 

Options: 

Reviewer's rating; 
(Scale of 1 to 5): 



Sharp MZ-721. 

280A 3.5 MHz. 

64K, 36. 5K available when BASIC loaded. 

4K video RAM - 2K colour ram, 2K screen RAM 

with a scrollable 1K window. 

4K machine code monitor. 2K character generator. 

25 lines by 40 characters, 8x8 character pixel. 

RGB colour to monitor. PAL colour RF to TV input 

Ino modulated audio). Composite B/W video to 

monitor. 

Very low resolution (80 x 50) pixel graphics. Large 

number (about 620) pre-defined graphics 

characters. 

BASIC loaded from cassette. Pascal loaded from 

cassette. Assembly language editor/assembler on 

cassette. Machine-code monitor in ROM, 

58 standard true key-switches, auto repeat on all 

keys, five shiftable function keys, four cursor keys, 

two special purpose keys. 

Amplifier and speaker with volume control. 

System I/O bus (PC board edge connector). 

Connectors for a second cassette deck. Parallel 

printer interface (PC board edge connector). Two 

joystick sockets <do not match standard plugs). 

5995. 

Four colour printer/plotter $321. Universal 

Interface board. Floppy disks. 

Documentation 5, ease of use 4, language 3, 

expansion 3, value for money 3. support 4. 



Review unit suupiied by Excelsior SuppJy Company, Wellington. 



28 BUS h BYTES - May. 1984 



HARDWARE fi€VI€W 

MBC 550/555 

Sanyo bids 
for the 
computer 
market 

By John Wigley 

Sanyo is well known for domestic 
electrical goods. With the MBC 
550/5, Sanyo seems to be aiming to 
become equally well known in the 
computer field. 

The MBC550 and 555 are single 
and twin disk drive versions of the 
basic machine. A 360mm deep by 
1 1 2mm high by 380mm wide base 
houses the single sided, single or 
twin 5% in drives, and the CPU and 
hardware. At the back, of this base is 
a slot for the air inlet la fan is built 
in), a printer (Centronics type) port, 
two video ports, black and white and 
glorious colour, the keyboard input 
and ready to fit slots for 
joystick/paddle external and line 
ports. 

The 81 -key keyboard is 
detachable. and includes five 
programmable keys fusing shift 
gives 10 functions) and a numeric 
keypad. This is controlled by a 
numeric key so that it works either 
as the keypad or alternately as the 

cursor control keys. 
In the current style, the monitor 

sits on top of .the main base, The 
choice is colour or hlack and white, 
well green or whatever. So a nice 
package without lots of dangling 
wires. How does it perform? 






'■"*fc4to^ 



/. 



The Sanyo 550 



The Sanyo 555 

Colour first. Already, the phrase, 
"glorious colour", has been used. It 
is. Simple BASIS commands allow 
generation of excellent colour 
graphics. Splash out and revel in the 
ease of use. In monochrome, so dull 
after colour, the same high quality 
graphics are just as easily designed. 
Text is well formed and easily read — 

portables have their place but a large 
screen is much nicer. 

The software is impressive - MS 
DOS, BASIC. WordStar, ReportStar, 
DataStar, CalcStar — and has its 
own impressive manual. Not perfect, 
but very good and self-training 
manuals are available. Printing is 
good and readable. With its extra 
capacity, the 555 can run the 
fvlailrnerge, SpellStar and InfoStar as 

well. 
MS DOS is a Microsoft 16 bit 

versionof CP/M 2 (for eight bits). It is 

obviously CP/Mbased and can be 

learnt if you want to make the effort. 
The MS DOS manual is the only 
manual that is o-btuse -- ideal for 
centres of higher learning. 
Fortunately, all the other sensible 
programs are easily called up, and 
their manuals are clear and lucid. So 
it is not necessay to learn MS DOS. 
It also includes an Auto Execute 

function which means programs can 
be set up to load and run as a turnkey 
function, 






Plenty of software is available 
right now — definitely a plus. 

The d*sk drives are somewhat 
restricted in size. 

The immediate future will bring 
double sided disks, a hard disk and 
networking. 

And IBM compatibility? Some IBM 
disks (must at this stage be single 
sided) will run with no problem. 
Anything under MS DOS seems okay 
but if it makes calls to ROM, no. 
While this machine is good enough 
to stand on its own, some degree of 
compatibility is a bonus. 

Summing" up, another good 
package at a very attractive price. 
Marketing will decide the success ol 
this computer but if sales in the USA 
are any guide, it will be a success, 
Just look at the price. 

A final word. This is a 16 bit 
machine. Whatever the experts 
might say about eight bits being 
enough, it is not. The extra, 
addressable memory is very 
worthwhile, especially with Calc 
sheets. 



Post your 
subscription 

today 



BITS & BYTES- Mny. 11 



- 29 



HARDWARE R€VI€W 



......... .. ,,.,.„..,„.,„, 



m o nw iKv .-.is.:. 



Microcomputer summary 



Name: 

Manuiacturer: 

CPU; 

RAM: 

ROM: 

Video RAM: 

Input/output: 



Keyboard: 

Video: 

Speaker: 

Operating system: 
Software: 

Reviewer's ratings; 

Price: 



Review machine supplied 



Sanyo MBC 550/5. 

Sanyo Electric Trading Co. Ltd. 

8088 ® 3.6MHz. 

128K expandable to 256K. 

8K. 

48K, including 1 6K of main nemory. 

Printer. Video, RGB. Keyboard ports (RS232C, 

joystick/paddle, external avertable as extra), 1 or 

2 disk drives (5%'). 

81 keys, inciuamg rive programmable dual 

function keys, numeric keypad, and cursor keys. 

Monochrome 80 x 25 lines. 640 x 200 riot 

graphics. Colour (RGB), eight colours, 80 x 25 

lines, 640 x 200 dot graphics. 

8eep. 

MS DOS. 

Any under MS DOS, e.g. BASIC, CPM/86, 

WordStar, Mailrnerge, CalcStar. InfoStai. 

Documentation, 4; Ease of ise. 4; Value for 

money, 5; Support. 5; Expansion, 3. 

MBC 550 S 2395.00 includes MS DOS, BASIC, 

WordStar. CalcStar. 

MBC 555 $3295.00 includes all above plus 

Mailrnerge, InfoStar and SpellStar. 

by Sanyo Business Division. 



IMPORTANT 

Please include your name 
and address with ALL 
subscriptions and back copy 
orders. 

If you haven't received any 
copies of BITS & BYTES it 
could be because we don't 
have your address! 



micro news 
Wellington — telephone Pat 
Churchill, 797-193. 



Post your 

subscription 

today 




BUSINESS SYSTEMS DIVISION 

introduce the Sanyo MBC550 series 16- 
bit personal computer with expandable 
RAM up to 256KB on MS-DOS, from 
$2395* 

The Sdnyo 550/555 package 
includes up to five software programs: With 
the 550 —"Wordstar" (word processing) 
"Cafcstar" (financial modelling). With the 
555 — "Wordstar" and "CaJcstar" plus 
"Infostar" (data base management) 
"Spellstar" [20,000 word dictionary) and 
"Mailrnerge" (mailing list program) 

MBC550 incorporates one 5" floppy 
disk drive; ihe MBC 555 has two for even 
greater and more versatile storage and 
processing. Also avairable with 320K disk 
drives. 



rill 



SRW0 8USME95 5V57E/75 



169 V-viutati Prt, Epsom lei 688-032 Auckland — Contact Ken Dous 
t?4 Oxon Sj'eei fe> 84S-7! 3 Wellington — Contact Mike Cole 
528 Mcorricuse Ave Tel 790-064 Chn sichu/th — Contact BHI Thew 



DEALERSHIPS 
^ AVAILABLE 

\ IN SOME 
» AREAS. 




Yesl I'd like to know more about Sanyo MBC computers 
Name 



Address 



Phone 



Post to Autorai Sanyo Ltd. 

Business Systems Division. 

Freepost 2002 Wewnwket. Auckland 

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30 - BITS & BYTES Miry. 19S* 



HflRDWRR€ R€VI€LU 



DtWWWAI 



Wftt/mv.vs-v/.iJ/,» 



ZETAC682 

cassette 
deck 

By Tony Graham 

The 2ETA-C682 data cassette 
deck should be able lo solve 
LOAD/SAVE problems for quite a 
few micro users. 

The attractively presented unit has 
all o* the features required for low- 
cost data storage, using the standard 
C type cassettes. Input and output 
connections are via a 5 pin DIN plug 
for which there is no indication of pin 
connections, or by 3.5mm phone 
plugs as normally used lor 
microphone and earphone. A 2.5mm 
plug is used for remote. 

|f your computer has provision for 
remote tape operation, it will still be 
necessary to pull out the remote plug 
to allow fast forward and rewind to 
operate. A monitor with on/off 
switch is included so that tape 
signals are audible on both SAVE and 
LOAD. 

A tape counter is provided. 

The sample unit was able to cope 
with input signals of less than half 
and more than five times the 
manufacturer's rated input level 
without any noticeable change in 
output level (checked with 1KHz 
square wave)- The output wave form 

varied considerably with the setting 

of the level control. About 25 
percent of output was present with 
the control at minirryjm. Maximum 
output voltage level was achieved at 
approximately mid-setting of the 
level control. The output wave form 
at this point had a yery sharp spike - 
nowhere near a square wave. But as 
the level control was increased 
further the wave form changed so 
that at maximum level an acceptable 



square wave was obtained. This 
is obviously th& reason the 
manufacturers suggest starting to 
load with the level control at V* 
setting and moving up or down as 
required. At this setting all program 
tapes produced a successful first- 
time load. 

One disadvantage of the 
'Datacorder' is that the batteries are 
only the AA, or penlight, size- 
Alkaline cells are recommended but 
at M.Z. prices a power adapter is 
probably a better buy. A 6-volt 
adapter is required with a Current 
rating of at least 140MA. 

One curious statement in the 
instructions is, "Be careful not to 
demagnetise the erase head." This 
suggests that a permanent magnet is 
used for erase. This is not the case 
as the erase head is in contact with 
the tape during loading, and if 
magnetised could be just as much a 
problem as a magnetised record/play 
head. 
Specifications — 

Input: 50mv +/• lOmv P-P square 

wave. 

Input impedance: 2k ohm +/- Ik 

ohm. 

Frequency used h recording: 800 HZ 
to 2400 HZ square wave. 
Output: 3.5v +'- 0.5v P-P square 
wave. 

Output Impedance: 68 ohm. 
Recommended Retail Price: $7 9.95. 
Sample unit provided by David 
Wells, Ltd., P.O. Box 2823, 
Christchurch. 



Programs 
welcome 



Hits X Bytes welcomes submission 
til' programs for inclusion in its 
regular program Features, and in 

oilier sections of the magazine. We 

pay fi>r good programs used. 

Please note, however; 

• It Hie listing is required hack, 
enclose a slumped, self-addressed 
envelope. 

• Programs will lie stored until 
used. Those not used "ill 
eventually be discarded. 

• Listings should be primed on 
white paper, and (he ribbon of the 
printer should he in noiid order. 

• Your program stands a better 

chance of being primed il the 

print-out is set so that the lines are 
as close as possible to the column 
wjdlll of Iti/s £ Hvles. 

• For long programs, a tape or 
diskette would he welcome so Iha1 
we can see how il works. These 
will lit- returned in due course. 

• Don't forget lo include full 
details of your address and name. 

• Don't forget lo say which 
machine your program runs on. 

Addrcvs programs lo; 

Programs Kditor 

Bits & Byles 

Box 827 
Christchurch 
And keep them coming in... 



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MODEL C6a2A 



DATA RECORDER 

The Zela Data Recorder ,y g t 

suitable for use with mosl 
personal computers. Top 
quality, has all necessary 
features — tape counter, 
level control, L E D. 
record light. Battery 
operated or with AC 
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Fully guaranteed 90 
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RETAIL STORE 

149 HEREFORD ST, CHRISTCHURCH. 

' TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME 
AUDIO. VIDEO. MUSICAL AND ELECTRONIC GftOLP LTD. P.O. SOX 2823. CHRISTCHURCH. PH 797-226 



79.50 




BITS 6 BYTES Vay. 1984 - 31 



P€OPL€ 



• ■ ::■'.'■:' 



GA RTH CA RPENTER 

Astrologer 
an early 
micro user 

By Pat Churchill 

I met three ol Ganh Carpenter's 
pets when I visited his homo recently 
— two sleek grey cats and a CBM 
3030. While the felines are 
undoubtedly dear to him, the PET 
computer is a major asset for this 
Wellington astrologer. It has taken 
much of the donkey work out of his 
astronomical computations and daily 
proves its worth by freeing Garth for 
other pursuits. 

In his pre-PET days, it could take 
Garth up to 45 minutes to construct 
a map for an interpretation. The 
computer has whittled the time 
down to 1 -8 minutes. 

"An eight-hour day's work can be 
done in 16 minutes." 

Garth Carpenter was one of New 
Zealand's earlv PET owners. 

"When Commodore brought out 
the PET, and the Radio Shack the 
TRS-80. I. thought what marvellous 
number-crunching tools. But there 
wasn't any astrological software 
around at that stage for these 
machines." 

It just happened that the PET 
designer, Chuck Peddle, was also a 
leading American astrologer. And 
Peddle's close friend, Michael 
Erlewine, was one oi that country's 
leading technical astrologers. 
Astrological software was an early 
PET development. 

Garth bought his machine at the 
beginning of 1980. There were lots 
of early hassles. "Initially I was 
supplied with the wrong DOS 
support." 

It bocame a monotonously regular 
occurence tor Garth to send his disk 
drive back to the Auckland firm he 
bought it from. They would check it, 
say it was working OK and return it. 
This happened six times and left 
Garth $400 poorer for the air freight. 

Eventually the firm sent someone 
down to check out the drive. 

"He couldn't get it going either. 
That was when we discovered I had 
the wrong DOS support system." 

Garth had to teach himself to 
program the computer. Ai the end of 
the first day he had produced his first 

32 fflTS* BYTES May. '98* 




Garth Carpenter 
program. Just cause for a 
celebration. 

"It took me a year to become 
proficient in BASI-." 

He says he is not a tidy 
programmer, in 'act describes his 
style as "sloppy", but it suits him. 

Over the last three years he has 
been putting together a program for 
his astrological work. It is 
operational, but is so far about three- 
quarters finished. It uses 20K. Garth 

reckons this coud be streamlined, 
but is reluctant to meddle with it yet 
for fear of dropping something vital. 

"There are a Jew bits of program 
that never get executed because 
GOTOs never return." They will 
probably stay that way unless Garth 
needs to clear them out for operating 
space. So far that hasn't been 
required on his 32K PET. 

Garth is critica of the instruction 
book that came with his machine. It 
took two years for him to sort out 
one algorithm because of inadequate 
documentation. 

"Instruction books are a lot better 
now." 

In spite of his initial hassles, he 
feels there were some advantages in 
being in early. W-iile there may now 
be various software packages 
available to lighten the astrologer's 
load, Garth has the satisfaction of 



having tailormadc o program to suit 
his needs. 

He has found writing the program 
a challenge, at times a thrill when 
problems have been solved. 

"I'm a relentless seeker after the 
truth of something. I'm not happy till 
I g&t to the end of a thing. Some days 
I get depressed but the spur is that 
experience has showed that I get 
there in the end." 

When programming goes awry, he 
likes to ask himself, "What do all 
these errors have in common?" 

Garth Carpenter is very interested 

in the jurisprudence affecting 

programming. "No-one can own an 
algorithm. A program is made of 
algorithms. But it can be argued that 
while you can't own an algorithm, 
you can own using it creatively." 

It is an interesting point to explore, 
he feels. 

While the computer has whittled 
down his work load, he is amused to 
sometimes find himself impatient 
with the machine. "It takes only a 
maximum of 10 seconds to calculate 
any planetary position" — a task 
that could take an astronomer, 
working things out in his head, a day 
- "but I find myself wishing it 
would hurry." 

Unfortunately, in terms of learning 
things the hard way. Garth lives in an 



P€OPl€ 



'W'oisiiaotKMOJOJWf^mKmm»m^ '•.v.™v"-.iv^-..v.v.,., 1 ...,,..... . ,,.,.. >..>.,.„....,. 1 ,.„. l ,.., V v'j" 






area prone to power cuts and spikes. 
He appreciates the value of saving 
new material while he still has a 
chance. 

THE POWER AND THE 
STORY 

He tells a delightful story from his 
early computing days. He often 
wonderGd what was inside the 
machine, but wasn't game to look. 
Then another of Wellington's early 
PET owners visited him, a veteran of 
the chips. He opened Garth's 
machine and pointed out the various 
features; ' 'he even told me it was all 
right to vacuum clean inside it." 
Which they did. Then closed it up. 
turned it back on and. . .you 
guessed it. Nothing happened. "He 



went very white." 

It just happened to coincide with 
yet another loca power failure. 

Garth has Comrnod ore's 8050 
dual disk drive. A Diablo printer 
which he describes as '"Very 
robust," completes the configura- 
tion. This printer runs non-stop from 
9am to 6pm anc in four years Garth 
has had only one minor problem with 
it. He finds h invaluable for a 

correspondence course in astrology 
which he runs. He uses Wordpro 3, 
his "greatest asset." 

But while Ganh Carpenter has his 
machine doing the donkey work, one 

thing hasn't been computerised- . - 

the interpretation of his clients' 

charts. 

"I wouldn't do it on a computer. 
It's an aspect of your mind. The 



variables in astrology never repeat 
themselves. A program would be 
constantly qualifying. If this, if 
that. 

Even with the computational part 
of the process computerised. Garth's 
personal contribution takes time. 

People still ring up expecting to get 
an instant horoscope. 

"The role of the astrologer is 
changing. We're not a fortune-telling 
device, but we do have a therapeutic 
role in continuing counselling." 

While the computer has freed 
some of Garth Carpenter's time for 
other aspects of hrs work, it has also 
presented him with a personal 
challenge that he apparently relishes. 
That program, when it is finished, 
will open up research facilities, he 
says, with a glint in hrs eye. 



INTERNATIONAL SOFTWARE CONNECTION 

YOU'VE READ OR HEARD OF SOME EXCELLENT SOFTWAR E AVAILABLE OVER SEAS 

BUT YOU CAN'T GET IT IN NEW ZEALAND 

THEN THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE 

P.C. POWER MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU 



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or a 



We have access to over 3000 U.S. software packages. 

GAMES Software 

EDUCATIONAL Software 

BUSINESS Package THEN WRITE OR CALL US WITH YOUR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 



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each show). THE RESULT: access to most major brand software and a large selection of hardware available right here in New Zealand. 

Each month P.C. POWER wll feature a top computer product. Yoj can order these products locally from us, and they all carry a 
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C0DE:CB86 DOSsfi/P PrIcc:S980 

CBASIC LANGUAGE: a commercial 
dialect of BASIC Inp-lamentod nn a 
compiler / interpreter. 

COUBtCBASIC DOSiO Prtcc:*W«. 

CODE:CBASIC86 DOS ill Pricc:$552 
As abf>V« 'or IBM PC 

CODE:CBASIC86l U0S:6 Prtce:$44S 



CONCURRENT CP/M: the new force in 
microcomputer operating systems. 
Allows vou to iriult task. For IBM PC. 
CODBiGCPHBN U'JSsfi I'rlceiHvS 

CIS COBOLiThe nost popular COBOL 
for oicro computers 

CODE: CIS l)0S:0/6 Prtce:SI389 

LEVEL II COBOL: gives you the full 
facilities of nuinfrine COBOL on your 
micro coraputer- 

CQuE:CISII UO5:0/6/P Prieci*«« 



LEVEL II ANIMATOR: puts life inlo 
your COBOL graphics presentation. 

CODE:CISIIAN l>OS:6/P l'n«:*lMJ 

FORMS II FOR LEVEL Ms the 
professional form generator - saves a 
great deal of programming tine. 

CODErCISUF* DOSffi/P l>ric*iS3S2 

CP/M 2.2: the industry atnatlird Disk 
Operating System. 

CODEiCPM DOSjO Price: S3 Ml 

CP/H 86: THE disk oporallng system 
forthe IBM PC/XT 

CODE;CPM86IBM 1»OS:0 Prlcei$l84 

DISPLAY MANAGER: the host way lo 
obtain porloiiility for your .icrrcn 
display. 

C01>E;DM DOS:0 Price :«KI1 



DISPLAY MANAGER 86: 



ibovc for 



16 bit micro. 

CQftfisDVdO ISOSiS/P Prico:J»<H 



BR DRAW 

COUE:DKAh D0S:G/P PricOitMZ 

FORTRAN 77: a ifticro |mpleocn tattoo 
of this language- 

COOE:PR77 DOS:6 Price:$9>J2 

DR GRAPH: creates graphs wad plots 
from typical business data. 

CODEiGR DOS:6/l' Pricc:S443 

DR LOCO TOR IBM PCi use this 
language «J program intelligence Into 
your computer. 

CODEiLOGO DOS: 6 Prleot$348 

PASCAL MTt: best for work were 
programming speed and accuracy eoUnl- 
C0DE:WT' DOS:0 Pnee:$636 
COnKiMTtK D0S:6/P I'NcctJllMQ 

C0DE:MT+8$IBM D0S:6 Prlco:S*68 

PERSONAL BASIC 

O0DE:PB DOS16 Price:S280 

PL/I COMPILER: * high performance 
profession"] programming language. 
C0DE:PU DOS:0 Pricc:598.0 
CODElPLIBt HUS:C/P PneptJiau 

MICKO SPF 

C0l>E:SVP DOS:6/P Price: «« 

SPP FOR PASCAL HT» 

C01»E:SPP DOS:0 Prlce:*365 
CQDE;SPP86 D0S:6 Pricc:541H 



IJOS 



- CPABQ 
P » I'CIIOS 



6 = CP/MH 
? : FLEX 



M ■ MS DOS 
U - Unit" LEX 



ORDERING INPOKMATION: Al present there arc over 
50 different recordliig formats of ihbrmatlon Oh floppy 
disk. IT IS ESSENTIAL, when ordering, to state make 
and modtt of iho turgot computer, disk sire, angfc or 
double sided, single or double densily, numoer of trucks, 
number of noclor, hard or soft sectored. Ctairly stole 
Code and Title of software |»tckage required- Give !»lh 
posliJ and phjrsicul address for delivery (if different) - 
Allow 10 - 14 doys ddivery to enable formating. 

TERMS: L'nebsc your eheyue or money onUt with your 
order. Add SI0 i«>t aMria ddhety and pariiinp 

UCEHSING Ail *o(lTwrc B sdd with the ownefs srfi-«r.- 
Ucensc for a ringle CPl' user- 



rilADKMAKKS The nnmxs oT Ihe oporaling sy items, the 
software, and the machines refered to in this ndverthcnunl 
are all rcKbtcred trademarks of Ihe respective owners. 



RETURNS: It is not our policy to aee<pl returns of 
goods which werv rorreetiy supplied lo order. If n 

product b defective, a Return Authorisaltin Numlwr must 

be ol)Vilned prior to return. 

IIHANDS SUPPORTED: ACS 1 - Acfler \lphnlronle I - 
Altos 5H0/S86/515 - Amust B16 - Apple - <lisb FI'-IOOD - 
Contractor 1 - Cranenco C-18 - DEC Rainbow - DEC VT10D 
■ feiiBlo 111 - Epson OX-10 - Faoam-Fuilsu - llmlh/Zcnllh 

- IBM PC - ICL DBS •• PC - Kaypro - LNW-80 - Med Ply - 
Murobcc - Wtrodeels&n - Wicropolts - NCK Declstonmutc - 
NEC - North Star - Novel - OKI - Osborne - Otrona - 
Panasonic - I'ericom - Snnyo - S-eiko - Spectra Video - 
Sperry - Tdevldeo - Toshiba - Visual - Wavemate - 
horrtplex - Xerox - Zenith/Heath - Zobra - ProleuS - 
ShTl*c - Gipix - IWIt - Imtcc - etc 



Phone (91 499-451 



P.O. Box 31-261 



48 Kitchener Rtoad 

Ulllnril 



Aucklnnd 9* 



professional software we have available 



XLT86 TRANSLATOR: translates 8080 
aiiemuly source code into 8086 code. 
CODE1XLT80 UO5:0 Price: J280 

CLLIO COMPUTING 

NEVADA BASIC: a most economic**! 
implementation of thtt language 
CODEiNB DOS:Q Prico:$82-S0 



SUPEROALC 2 5 advanced version of 
■b»Va with vxlra facilities. 

CODE:SC2 X>SiO/6/P Price:S477 

5UI'EBlw\L(. 3 Ior | HM rC . ul JdS 

fully integrated presentation graphics 
and (Ut-i nimagonent capability. 
CODE:SC3 )OS:P Prtce:«22 



FORTKAN-B0 APPLE CP/M 

CODE:£305 T>OS:0 Prlce:i4!2 

A.L.D.S. APPLE CP/Ms 

CODE:2306 DOS:0 Price: S263 

BASIC COMPILED APPLE CP/M: 
COl>E:2307 DOSiO Price:$75I 



NEVADA COBOL.: Ed II ton II of this 
COBOL is based en ANST-74 stundards. 
CODEiNC DOS;0 Pricot;$62-5G 



SUPER SPELLCUARD: your dictionary 
on a dlalc. 

CODE:SC DO8:0/«/P Price: $4 18 



1-uMATII/MaSIMP: 

CODE:J20S DOS;6 l»rlce:*549 
CODE:9909 D05;P Price: S61S 



NEVADA COBOL APPLICATIONS 
COULiNCA DOS;0 Priceif82.5B 

NEVADA EDIT: a character oriented 
full screen t-ext editor designed for 
program preparation. 

CQDEiHE 1>OS:0 Price-itU-SO 

NEVADA FORTRAN! a powerful subset 
Implementation of this widely used 
language producing machine code 
CODEiNF DOSiO Price:$82.50 

NEVADA PILOT: an excellent 
interactive lomguiige for education nnd 
office automation. 

COUEiNP DOSsO Price:S82.5D 

MICROPRO 
CALCSTARt the powerful, easy to- uic 
electronic spread sheet. 

COIILiCS D03;u Frice:$267 



SUPEHMKlTEKi professional word 
processor with uuillin merge and spool 
capability. 

CODEiSW UOS1U/6/P Prlee;S602 



TYLOG SYSTEMS 

dllASE II HBPOUT WRITEHs the 

easy wuy or generating reports. 

CODE:OOOH DOS:0/6/M/P Pricc:$324 

dBASE II ACCESS UTILITY: 

CODKtWINpOW DOS;q;»/M/l' 
Price; 5032 



MICROSOFT 
FORTRAN COMPILER; 1368 ANSI 
standard language (except COMPLEX data 
type). 

CODE: U OS DOS:M Prtce:*719 
COPE {KM UOS:p Price:JlQS? 



EDIT TEXT EDITOR: 

CODri:3215 l>OSill I'ncfiWO? 

FLIGHT SIMULATOR 

CODKi9930 POSit- Price: $121 

WORD POH IBM PC: 

CQUE:9934 DOSiP Pr1cc:*860 

MOUSfcE FOR IBM PC: 

COuKi9937 DOSiP ITiccsSW* 

WORD/MOUSE FOR IBM PCi 
CODE:99S2 DOSiP Pr|ce:t902 



TECHNICAL SYSTEMS CONSULTANTS 
FLEX 6809 Olak Operating Syatea - 
the standard DOS for the 68xx family- 

COUE:SP09-0l DOSiF Prioe:J4«8 
As above for Exerciser, 8" 

CODKiSPOJ-Ol-K* Pricr;S3*3 



nATASTAR: 4 powerful data handling 
prouram allows you to enter, retrieve 
and update data wtlh groal speed- 
CODEsDS DOS:0 Price:S4fl7 

INFOSTAR: :lh«- tlnlii base management 
system for non programmers- 
CODErlS DOSiGVP Ppiffe:S679 

MAlLMKHCiK; a ir.ulii putpose file 
merging program. 

CODE) MM DOS:0/6/M/P I'rice:»414 

REPORTSTAR: simplifies report 
generation. 

CODEiRS DOSiO/P Price:$458 

SUPKRSORT: combines speed And 
flflKibllityin sorting, merging and 
selecting information from data files. 
COiJE-.SS DOS;0 Piicc;$414 

SPELLSTAK: your word processing 
proof reader on a disk. 

CODE: SI' POS:0'6/M/P Pricc:l41( 

STARBURST: a flexible yet powerful 
tool I hnl helps to build your own 
management information system. 
CODKtSU DOSiO/P Priee:$3S2 

STAH-INDKX: eraales an inttec with xitenlrics. c 
Bilib of contents, unit IMS o* figures and BDbs- 
CODiitSl lJOSsO/1' PrkeittB 

NORUMASTEfii » full screw prqtmm *<>t>r far 
p r onratnattr g . 

COUEMW DOS i 0/6 l*icc:*»8 

WORDSTAR: a screen oriented lad editing und 

«ui« pww'sane program. 

CODElWS nOS:fl/BVM/l' Pnce:S7a9 

WORDSTAR I'KOFESSIOMALi an enhnnced 
VfTlhn of Die above. 
CODCiVtSH DOSiD/P lVi«:*a&l 



SORCIH 
SU1»ERCAI.C: (he f-imo u s Hprcnd sheet 
proiir.iiB which implements OnaeUI 
moilcllint; on aiipros. 

*:<)U»;:SC- l<OS:0,f Phce:S39» 
COUE1SC86 dos;^. ITice;H2q 



BASIC COMPILER: increases program 

executfcn sped. 

CODE: 1407 UOS:M Prlee:l789 
COa>Ei3S07 DOS:* Price:S844 

COIIOL COMPH.ER 

CODEiHll DOS:M Price:* 1309 
CO DEI 3 all I)OS;0 PlttBillW 

BASIC INTERPRETER: easy to loam 
yel powerful enough for the 
programming o' sertous applications. 
CODEiLHM DOSiM Prieo:£e98 
COI>E:3214 OOSiO Prlce:$T49 

MACRO ASSEMBLER 

CODEsUW DOSl.M Prteeii-152 
CODE:3216 UOSiO Prico:S484 

SORT FACILITY: put tfiose tiles into 

any order, quickly 

CODEU417 DOSiM Priee:S420 
CODE:3217 DOS:0 l*rtce:S450 

nuLISP/nuST\R: smallest, fastest 

lmpleB»entatlon of the LlSP sysien for 
micro conputers- 

CODEH4I8 DOSiM PrieosSSM 
CODE:3218 IJOS:0 l'rlee:S-4&6 
CODEi9SI8 DOS:P Pnce:S5Z8 

PASCAL CONtELER: 

CODEM420 DOS:M Price:&"19 

MULTIIM.AN 

CODEsl423 DOS:M Prlce:SS24 
COftEiSSaS DOSiU I'rlceslSeZ 

MULTI-TOOL FINANCIAL 

CODE 11441 DOSiM Pr1ee:S237 

MULTI-TOOL BUDGET: 

CODEt|442 DOSiM l'rice:S329 

BUSINESS HASIC COMPILER: 

CODE:144S DOSiM Price:Sl207 

C COMPILER: 

CODE:|448 DOSiM Prtec:S987 



Prices and Spccifici lions sub-)eet to change 
without notice- 



FLEX 690? Tesl Editor -a lla« 
oriented editor for progranners 

CODEsSI'09-0! DOSiF Prtec:S99 

FLEX 6809 Assembler - generates 
machine code from mnemonics 

CODE:SP09-3 DOSiF Prlc*-:J99 

FLEX 6809 BASIC Intcrprotor - 6 digit 
m(ilticnintiC5 

COI)E:SP09-4 DOS:*' Pricc:ll45 

FLEX 6809 Debug - cssentul old In 
mnehtne languaKO dovelopemerit. 
CODE:SP09-5 DOStF PriceiJl45 

FLEX «809 EXTENDED BASIC • with 
17 digit ran I hematics and full print 
using* A must for serious programmers. 

COUE:SP09-6 DOSiF Pnce:SI91 

FLEX 6809 XBASIC Precompiler -AS 
above for extended BASIC 

CODE:SP09-8 DOS:!' Priec:$99 

PLEX 6809 SORT/MKRCEs a very fart, 

very intelligenl sort and marge routine. 

COf)E:SP<W-l0 UOS:F Pri«iJH5 

FLEX 6809 UTILITIES: A eoileclion o* 
the most wanled ulllllles (source 
included) 

CODEiSI'119-ll DOStF PricCi*145 

FLEX 6809 DIAGNOSTICS! the 
essential tool to recover crushed data. 
CODBtSI'OMl DOSiF Prloe:SM5 

FLEX «809 TEXT PKOCKSSORi the 
InislncBS side of a word processor - left 
and right hand justification, headers, 
foolers, numbering* etc-. 

CODt;:SP09-I3 DOSiF Pr1CC:*H5 



I » tlVISIOH o* *iM"n*w ihti««*m» »to t 
DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME 



BITS S BYTES - May. I5BA - 35 



SOFTWARC R€VI€IU 



Games for 
the Spectrum 



The Hobbil, for 48K ZX Spectrum, 
$69.95. 

Hungry Horace, for 16K ZX 
Spectrum, $29.95. 

Horace Goes SkJ-ing, for 16K ZX 
Spectrum, $29.95. 

Horace and the Spiders, for 16K 
ZX Spectrum, $29.95. 

Reviewed by Steven Cragg 

The Hobbit is based on the famous 
book by Tolkien. The player is cast 
as Bilbo Baggins, ihe main character. 
The player meets Gandalf. Thorin 
(who seems lo lake the place of all 
the dwarfs), and most of the other 
characters and varied nasties Bilbo 
meets during the course of his 
adventure in the book. 

The program comes with a very 
comprehensive instruction booklet, 
which is well written without giving 



too many of the game's secrets. This 
yaniu is i-eally a texl-unly yanie, buL 
it has an 'artist's impression' of each 
major scene the first time the player 
comes across it. 

The communication with the 
computer is carried out using Inglish 
(sic). This gives limited use of 
English and allows the player to 
construct short sentences of the 
form "GO NORTH AND HIT DOOR 
AND KILL GOBLIN". 

This is a big advantage over other 
adventure games I have used. 

A featgre called Animaction 
controls the other characters in the 
adventure. For example Thorin often 
tells the player to hurry up and can 
carry hems that the player has found 
and can be called upon 10 perform 

various deeds. 

Over all. I would say that this is 
probably the best adventure game I 
have played and is one of the best 

games I have seen on any computer. 

As the titles of the other three 

games suggest, al have one thing in 




• We specialise in the conversion of overseas computer & 
video tape recorders to NZTV channels. (Any quantities from 
individual units to large production runs.) 

• Stockists of Commodore computers, hardware & software. 

• Monitors repaired and aligned. 

• We slock PAL and NTSC Monitors- also quality new and 
used TV's. 

635 Manukau Rd, Epsom. P.O. Box 84-017. Logan Park. 
Phone (09)658-416 



. 



Customized software-hardware packages 
for small business and home users! 

EPSON HX-20 COMPUTERS from $1*71 

• Portable word processing • Business records 

• Form letters • Mail order, bar codes 

• Self-adhesive labels • Diary, maths, games 

ARCHIVES/PIED PIPER COMPUTERS oniy$4ioo 

800K disk slorage. Portable, powerful, 1.6M bytes avaibble. Supplied 
with full suite of "PERFECT" software. Calc, Writer, Speller and Filer. 

CASIO FP200 Portable Computer $795.00 

EPSON DOT MATRIX PRINTERS 
ADLER DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS 

Please phone Or Write to: Cliff Nighy for further information 



New Zealand Fine Chains Ltd 

231 Khyber Pass Road, Auckland 3. Phone 774-268. 



36 BltS h BYTES - May. 19B") 



common, Horace. He is a small round 
uealuie with two legs and lie 
slightly resembles a Pacman. 

Hungry Horace is loosely based on 
the Pacman theme. In the game, 
Horace is in a park and the object is 
to eat as many flowers as possible 
while avoiding the gardeners. Bonus 
points may be gained by ringing the 
bell which is situated in one corner of 
each of the four mazes. Also bonus 
points may be gained by eating the 
fruit gardeners leave behind from 
time to time. 

Hungry Horace is a game that 
makes good use of the Spectrum's 
colour and sound facilities, but the 
game itself seems to be aimed at the 
slightly younger age category. 

In Horace Gogs Ski-ing Horace 
desires a quick run down a giant 
slalom course. 

To get his skis he has to cross a 
busy two-way highway, complete 
with cars, trucks and the odd stream 
■of motor-cycles, as well as an 
ambulance equipped with a 

particularly irritating siren. 

Once Horace has crossed the road 
twice he gets to go ski-ing. This is 
good the first time but the course 
never changes, which is a great pity. 

However, if you want a good 
demonstration of Spectrum graphics 
the busy road is one of the better 
examples. 

Once again, as with all games in 
this series it seems to be aimed at 
the eight to 14-year-old age group-. 

The object of Horace and the 
Spiders game is to avoid the spiders 
in each of the three different levels. 

In the first level the player has to 
jump over the spiders, which 
approach from the right of the 
screen. This is essentially a 
qualification stage and is tiresome. 

The second level consists of 
spiders dangling threads down over 
a chasm which the player uses, 
Tarzan fashion, to cross safely. The 
only snag is that while the player 
leaps from thread to thread the 
spiders pull up their threads with the 
player on Che bottom. Needless to 
say, if the spiders succeed you toSS 
one serum (life). 

The third stage consists of a large 
web with several spiders resident. 
You have to knock holes in the web 
and then wait for the spiders to drop 
into the holes. When they drop in the 
player jumps on them to kill them. 

This is not the most exciting game, 
but younger players find it fairly 
stimulating. 



If its micro news in 

Christchui-ch 

— telephone 66-566 



The BITS B BYTES Computer 

Booh Club 




Have fun & games with 
these great prices 

MAY - ONLY OFFER 



The more you buy, 
the more you save. 

• Buy 1 book and each bonus 
point you use saves you 50 
cents. 

• Buy 2 books and each bonus 
point you use saves you 
$1.00. 

• Buy 3 books and each bonus 
point you use saves you 
$1.50. 

• Buy 4 books and each bonus 
point you use saves you 
$2.00. 

• Buy 5 books and each bonus 
point you use saves you 
$2.50. 

• Buy 6 books and each bonus 
point you Use saves you 
$3-00- 



Thirty-four Anwing Games for the 1 K 2X81 

Alastair Gouday 
Claims to be nuMoirtan iu-tt og»moa collection; maintains li's 
a (MmteBoot » show you howto main li» nww or wow IK 
7X8'. Invlio* you la enter eogioms. thpn impic-ve mvl 
rnxltfv ihom w*ih your own (tamp. AnU you c*i u»B tho 
iuViol '• eo'Ajirtisina trick: on eHur wosiyvi 
Imailaco Our price 316.85. 

Giant Book of Computer Games Tim Hannoll 

More lhan 40 Ga^ea comiiatitln wish Micro-sol; BASIC un'J 
able w iun ci mo>t mioosi nclutwifl B8C> VX-20, Q"c, 
Apple II. CcrrroCom 04. IBM PC. Dragon 3 2. Tandy CiSci. 
TRS-80. Saectrum. "S 2000. VZ20O atd Teaet. Wide 
cnoice o( bouid. atlvcniuic. dee. sp-aw? and bran B*rr«, 
wuh an explanation ol how they woiW and possible 
moOili cation s. 
In tor face Otir price 527.50. 

Tho Book of Kstmgc: Fin Programs lor the BBC 
Microcomputer Tim Harwell & Jeremy Rusion 

Hanne* ol programs covering made octran garnet through 
board yamee 10 !*• your mis (o ranv olS'llmai ginjthics 
OemunatiOtiCns aoil some unities. Many programs ri«i on 
both iriMdi A hi it) B. and all <ue discussed »nd iMcumoniod. 
Eiplanaiions ol hon io pUv. modify jnd o*innd iho 
ptogr-ims. anil advice 0" piaeical programming. 
B8C Our price $12.80. 

Dr C. Wacko's Miracle Suirie 10 Designing Hnd 
Programming Vour Own Atari Computer Arcade 
Games 

Highly one naming qjichi to producing yow own oread? 
games. Provides inside tips rom Wiy mx lO-ienonflfld P' 
YV.iclo. and essential prognmmnrj teOniaoea Plus a 
selection a' programs and garr-is bom Ida loan nimselt 
Aoflison VycjIc* Our price 326.00. 

Also available with 49 games on disk. 
Our price 552.20 



r 



May is 
IBM PC 
month 



l 



$5 off the advertised 
price of any of these 
three books. 
$12 of the advert 
ised price of any 
two. 

$20 off the advert- 
ised price of all three. 

Using Your IBM Personal Computer Lon 

Alio previous popular books ©1 Hie Apple "- BASIC and 
Atari, Lon FoohJ lilts now Mined Io mil IBM PC. 1 
compreriantlvo boa* la in i«o pone — lor tnow wlig wan 
use onlv nonaged progriims. lr>| re those who haws iv 




Challenging Games lor tho Commodore 64 

William A. Roberts 
Juri aboui everything .. enemy blasters, ouiwlt the 
cnmpuiers. alio o 1 out 3. All 16 ar« designed tor rich emeni 
'rom caverns ol Terror and lunula ol Thar 10 Watlock's 
Laitle and Bloclout. 
''"•"*" OurpriceS18.95. 

Sixty Games 81 Applications to* the ZX Spectrum 

David Harviood 
Games and utility programs. ail in ready -to-run lonti, M 
programs have been dumped d^ecilv on 10 Hie ZX priniei to 
avoid probBmw or getting tnem up and 1 uniting wlnin 

t«COitda Of Ivpirry tlei" I' 

Interlace Qui price S 1B.85. 

The A to Z Buck of Computer Games- 

Thomas C. Mc In tire 
PoquUm collection ol 26 game programs ready to iun on any 
■n,i.-jiiiM> HtHClt usra BASIC. Programs alu) Drn.'lilo e<»ellenl 
lecJirMiieip'aciKHir-iVMKei]. Wiiie vanaiy nl games Aniljou 
can choose your opponent — Immunol tlMCCnguiei' 
IAB OurpikflS2T.40. 



Seventy Garnets tor ihe Timex.Sinctalr 1000 & 1500 

Tim Harwell 
R.iinjy-10 r\in programs lor all Kovantmn^i levcb Iron inn 
ma»tor gamesmani Thrill 10 •itiluue. driving gon^es, boat) 

.■.'«! .ivnilgrimi'i. music pro^iami. wvnianilletter games, and 

1 ll 1 .lli'ri.il ;.-.- j-j 11- 

Addieon Wesley rj,,, price S1990. 

36 Challenging Games lor the BBC M icio 

Tim 0. Rogers S Chris Calender 
Entadamli tg vl-ctlo" rangiing Irnm uwaplkn: *lv— mun" 
P(OOran% 10 laal'mo'ing arcade acuon. Buol ilaMiiption o' 
pKinjiimtt. nutliiMf of EtoM 11 «or«t. longtriinliyi?* aiulBnv 
moflificatmni nr-reas^ry lor running on a motl*< A we tfiven 
ln ""lac- 0«irprk:e 620.45. 




pingrammoi] a compute* bul «»nl to learn BASIC 
jiir;ijr,iinrr— ig. Also incluiSae lainiliaiiiy th-tsters niih (tie 
Mardwa'e. ^ecticia ol grapelcund nonrvl. ami ftumrnanes 4I 
BASIC. PC DOS. c*or n<esnagan ami characters, codes and 
H eyatiolies. 

Sam' Our price 533.BQ- 

Executive WisiCalc for tlm IBM Personal Computer 

Roger E. Clark 

Guidef. u0ut0liilWngs{lr!Cifehuwiii;5rA9iH.r<ith«'amp/<it 
lor sales 3imI<bI», lore<asiing. Dookkeepiiag. amoiinia 
DNelV«bn1 and so on. Tips lor tuxjimiorn. and dwosges ^B 
tjoeimaftrj iidiements. Iag*c Iiwciiorts io dovelcm mo-e 
cnmiji^. and help lul mono K. 
Addion-We«*v Our price S26.0O. 

PASCAL for theiBMPeisonnlComputer 

Ted G. Lewis 
'rutdiiyh fli/.lo 10 the two ma|or veiuom ol PASCAl 
ninrlaMri toi the IBM PC. Written with both Hie orx^encod 
projTammer (who "*ill upareoale rhd rromciariacri ol the 
SuMlMiM of U0P1 ve**onsl and ihour new to PASCAL [wha 
wrU lind it a complete inuaducionl in mind. 
Ada.wm-WMtoy Ourprlco S32.10. 



BITS a BYTES - May. 193 4 37 



TH6 QITS & BVT£S BOOH CtUB 



L02 — 

Quick Keyboarding Vormie Alexander 

Sub ilile-d "CompoiBnl Koylioanl.rtg o fl Hou-s". ihie Iwiofc 
by Mow Zealand Vonnk" A*o>.9«nS<*r hat a uniQuo moli"-! tar 
ICOCh »CU1 SCll EOTOUlP"' h«V»»*'dlofl- A wall churl of linger 
sostt'oru Id nciuueo 
Mothucn Our price 66-00. Sovc 45c. 

and earn 1 bonus point. 

Keyboarding tor lolormaiion Processing 

Robert Hanson 

Eiabks a peiwm 10 devolw bask touch tevBoardng aWIn 
,i tninrmm IT** t>» P**»° n «*■> «ompb«» *• ««* will be 
able iq «ov «i alphubscic r«ii**rie mvl lymUO! in lot m alio" 
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More Than 32 BASIC Programs for tho 
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Data Base Management Systems: A Guide 10 

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Base lylaitauemem rot tie Apple 

NntWadsworth 
Simple, functional, cross *relt"r'nc,'d data bono namige'iienr 
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Principles of Database; Systems Jeffrey f>. Ullmnn 
Ihe ni,itic*it.iiive -von 01 database s-y&trins iiiyi Stntnid 
University's ptofosio' ot compute science flctiies .i^iatiose. 
idc*£ia concepts I'otn programmma; languages. aWoftiythmi. 
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Richard S. Forsyth 



How co Program fho Commodore 64 - II vou'vu 

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I Wish I Knew about the Spncliumfi ZX8 1 

Jonathan Chappie 
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Computer Art and Animation' A Users Guide to Radio 
Shack Colo* Logo David O. Thombu rg 

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SpeCllUm Magic; Your Flrr.l Programming Book 

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Structured Programs In BASIC PetOrBishop 

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The Computer Booh; An introduction i« Computer* 

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F0RTRAM77: A Top-do-n Approach 

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»ch is based on iwo pnnefilas that 
iigiir a speciali&t suD|ect: and that the 
i team picgiamreiing n to rsafl noniriviai 
is io iviiie olenl t vt ihem), 

Our price (hardback I S57 .70. 
SnuB S3.05 
and earn 5 bonus points. 
Our price (paperback I 524.20. 

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and earn 2 bonus points. 
Instant Spectrum Piograntmingj: How lo Program the 
Specirum in jwsl 60 minuies Tim Hastnell 

A tiuetiargeinlromoneol the master compuieiwiuors . .a 
C-60 M-strucTion.il cjusetto baefced by il* comotoio lout ol 
the lloo snit 13 demonstrate?" prCPprarna Plus .i lu'thcr 30 
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Iitte-iiace Our price M7.05. Sawe 90 cents 

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Problem Sgivino Wilh FORT RAW 77 

Larry Nytiofl S Sanlortl Leesttnfl 
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Adcois view that the main reason la r usingj acomaulei ia as 
protilcm'MilvBta tool. Deals wilh problem anaVsj£ end 
aloorhylhrn development, Iransformatian of alao'hvthm into 
a progiani. and proojiam ciecutiDn onu volidston. Brief 
sketch ol computer history aid description ol some a! main 
Icotuict ol a compute* system. 

Macntillan Our price $37.95. Save $ 2.00 

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Shake Hands With the Apple II Plus 

P. Kelly- Harthey & J. McKnoil 
Indiwdeokied progiam for lemnirvj how to- cpeiato the Apple 
II Plus. All insimctions route specilicety to the tl Wjs. 
although eomo will also apply toother Apple micros. Straight- 
forward style aKsiimas no knowledge of cctou'^'Soi jirgon. 
Starts with timpli programs and rxourantming "id 
f^uii'tiH-t to urapniGK and word pmccssing. 
Piiman Our price $18,50. Save s 1 .00 

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Bisslc Systems Analysis Alar. 0ai\iel5 & Don V«ates 
Bac'ground lor computer inogrammeis. enabtng ihem lo 
enter pie U>lds of Ituoiness and systems analysis. Assumes 
no pravlo-io Inowledge and is sui'Shla lor business people 
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Pitman Our price S 19.45. Save SI 05 

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Second 

time 

round 



Revised for 
Apple II Plus 
and Apple He 



Applesoft Basic: A Teach- VouiselHntroduction 

B. M. Peake 
Second ediuon revised io covin !•■* Applo " Plus «i"l ll« A 
manual foi New Zealandeis lu learn BASIC with me Apple, 
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BITS & BYTES - May, I98«t - 39 



IH6 SITS S SVT€S BOOM CLUB 



BBC 



Assembly Language Programming on the BBC 

Micro John Ferguson & Tony Shnw 

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1 . .ine.B9B Mam rnaclical enarrajlna and 

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BBC Micro Graphics and Sound Steve Money 

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pcunoi ana n«» cohnn Eialaing animBiion. poispociiv*. irw 
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The BBC Microcomputer tor Bcoinners 

Seamus Dunn & Valerie Morgan 
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Discovering BBC Micro Machine Code: How 10 
got mora spood and power A. P. Stephenuon 

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■HCGlive mw u< (eroharela ««l *■"<"* 

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Jim McGregor & Alan Wan 

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Assembly Language Programming for Iho BBC 
Microcomputer lani Birnbaum 

A. Dude on HOW to C*> id* nMH« fcom you BBC Cov«~H 

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Structured Programming With BBC BASIC 

Roy Atrwrton 

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.. ,-. I in; . 
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1141 y OQbiC(Tt«nl. ««« 
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FORIM Funoomontals: Volume 1 

C. Kevin McCflbe 

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Your First Basic Program 

Rod nay 2nks 

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Microso*! Basic (2nd edMion) Ken Knochi 

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Program Your Microcomputer In BASIC 

Peter Gosling 

aulhcx uii H«s boot, d telanee to cut n jutt nnere Hie 
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mnnmj. Imlruciuns on gioipi Ol iiiM'uCtiona eiu Oeoll mth 
<\ sciMiIbb. owing a comtloU £o-i««« in Il>* oliimantH Ol 
BASIC 

Macmiilan 0-jrpnceS13.25. Savo 70c 

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TRS-80 



io««o>: 



Ouf price $31.30. Savo $1.65 
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anguage/programmirv 



Programmingj With Graphics Garry Marshall 

Je- loda'r u»am>*ni coveiiro W !'>'♦* mote mt>f(ic«l» ol 
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drawing. Apncndu n>i«n*'iBci oii-dM'* l>ic*ileftof warioua. 
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Granaiia Ourprico 8 18.95. Savo *1 

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Introduction to FORTH Ken Knecht 

• MMSKfflTM VE"?ff1 ffl <n*- 

i- .■• Ii-io WW Oa^-: '■ i ■■ Ml 1 

... . i |o Miciowll tuvol 

H BASIC Mi/ ul IAjh/ piaqnt 1 ) pwnipcj an] 4mci 

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, _ ■ i 

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Microsoft COBOL 

Ken Suidnl 

AnamtsuntlnBianiliiiganduang COBOL undm meCl'M >"t 
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Apple 



Clean Slate Word Processing lor the TRS-80 

Honry Melton 
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TRS-BO.'Sharp Pocket Compulor Programs 

Howard Betsnbon 

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1 19 Practical Pro-grams lor the TRS-80 Pocket 
Computer 

John Craig 

CtftrtW o< wttos-e ;>*a*« f.' ■»? ooc»ot maoet Pr<qiox 
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JonathonA. Titus 

Christopher A 

Thus. David G. Larson 

11 you warn lo oppV you" TRS60 10 "«• ili*o iui 
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qClUMfltCd lloj-yj and ^gy, soch can bo uiad uml* BASIC 
languaac program coonoi. A book lot ihe moan- will" a goou 
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Pascal Progrnmming for the Apple 

T.G. Lowls 

iiej-oy »l»0 ij'"h< *nd -..-roloi lot Coin UlO »0Uiv»l and! 

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gnot|lil 

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Hardware Interfacing W«h the Apple ll-Plus 

JohnEUIIenbeck 

SIiOij^ 'tow lo fojiain toil Ap|>H lo tum on a iooti igtii . 

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Applesoft for mo lie 

Brian 0. & George K. Blackwood 

WiUan <• Acooiolt lni\H»»9*i lw «* Ul --. 'I precis 
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■n a«80>«aUnmrnadw. a^pestMSaa ao-co*urnn ■omnner 
rj-r.r/.v 

Snmb 



Oir price S39.80. Save 82.10 
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Your Flint Apple II Piogum 

Rodnay Zaks 

aror-«' rn)e> tn aetkor wa» V<ow>s »owp "a mwun »wvte re 
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Apple II: Basic Prograns in Minutes 

Stanley R Trost 

<o«.-:i-on oi wsntc. t-aa.iu.iB pioa-on-.. tojr°»**" 

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., ■(■MwMtftcm. baa-wucalcota-.. ■ ;'"' 

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BASIC piOoiitnrriinB wan ,ac e«V«™* ""«" c * n •** 

BrUoreH iind'tudy lotun ui »i j inan lOmnuuia 



Stjbei 



Our price 820.85. Save $1.10 
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TR5-80 Interlacing; Book 1 



Sinclair 



Programmln-a the Applo I *n BASIC 

Paul Tebbe 
PlOOJQfll] MKl "' (88 «r«l on Apple te. II ant) II pus 
w"inout roOtfrlcallOfl* di." pOfliosuon lliionyh ihn 
,' ■■;■ ii M ■■; .k.iii.i-tt***iil.0ix"i1oicedby»(«iei»s Alter 
m mooOXWy MCWin. a idwis Wing wnaU'i. OtctSOa 
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owd'ij *»i*ii JBvdeo™j lata Iam. usna landom *««> 

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■>tV1t» 

PrnnrtM ».« Our price S3B.Z5. Sava Si 90 

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U8ang & PrOfjramming the ZXfiiaSlOOO Including 
Ready-lo-Run Progiwn* Albert N. Stckler 

OtlVS an un3?' , £tantf > >l 0* '0«v 0X itta-ltino W0<11. tiOAi to 

UW*m -n BASIC and mtoni^LXi on cirnvi" «p*lilirs 
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matnainaiicat cooiaro Ca«ia essi"«J bn.d.vJiO and 
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TlnWjX/Sinelatf 2068 Baulnnerilnietmcdiaie Guide 

FiadSiech-nnn 

Yrauin snnctfcaUy lor "* ""«■ MOB W*onal colou 
cofnnjii><> \ta ano» lata* a luarn-bi-rtomo oOOreKn. bno*a 
hMinneia how to oat u-w comouwr "« ^^ rurnnq. 
rtP-on«(.at« b-we* o* BASIC fOjr^mirg. ana uswwasieal. 
^a^ w Miani .ou ->rh W.M»d ara "T'Tarat ty 
l^nMdtettf, man *' piooatro lot n<«*o *-id hoMn fM 
Oc^onM'»t^ai»M'na=hna-. (enctonsandOWpJ-Wi. »«l»<w 
1 1 ,:, iV to *m ma ir.i^ coltwi. rrnrttic an J QtitACS - '" 

*fjfi™*« f «>qggfr im 4y9M. Save St.OB 
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A KM' a. Manaaal (ot Piogramming ilie Sfaiclai«i"TinwM 
Computers Ed Hoornaerl 

A onaoiaavrw-q Tianual n taa<9*ii'(rw.va Unpia 
supppiofl by dagiam* and appealing iiunrau 
Funflamcnlaa of tomimlni onaialKyi aip l*ohi>n «ilo vmnlp and 
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DAjSIC cjinWiinns itnd how t'-i W -"* 

TAB Our price 818. 10. Save 85 cent* 

and emn t bonus point 

Pcoqrammlng Arcade Games loi your Spettrutn 

Adrian Jones 

Lwll el Ahai males onaicaoc game ana HinJeiutmiaiMs 
uMid'iirM!itdevelopnM>nta'iapTOdi*tl>on In-deoU oakaimori 
BCpmcitSnlcd niomods ol incfl-aninnmd. iixKtdtn^ W" 1 ! loo* a 
uUng machine coco to ip»a op nrd impose ihe?.!!"'' 
folwrtnd I/, ccinpliHo r>oakdownot 1 arcado iiamoa am mm 
may can be Mr-ulaicd on uvi Soacuiyn 

rewU Outpii«eS15.i*5. SaajeBOceniB 

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280 Aasembly language Programming 

L.A. Levenlhal 

Comrnennnslrtt cnycinge "I lf * zao nicioptocessor 
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CCK'PIS *nd acl^al asseirai^ lmr,uaqc "«««• AlicniLiyfi ^ro 
UatlaMf 0r«CL'i«3 are f .p«ncd Incite* more Oar. BO 
-jr;(*w^i>'*~' , <noivoe«r-.i Ai pnrOtesM loutoi-.sm wkco 
cede »ft"J ooeei coo? f aer» /ftO "ihwm" wt. vi^nM 
cnbaatfiueOrtyMi Our price $33,95, Save S1.7B 
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Oriva Vour Speclriini Anthony Cnmacho 

ll.ni: 'mi Wile O't'" 1 ! IO knOei IfOUl m ■ "'•" ' ' ' 
grnKacpTiy ben aid "ii Cooh Al 

icbAs Id atkra * wwn a» one t wt.i<- .i I jloacd In 
cc*n*. giapncs and souni Sp«e «-.n i*nti» or oo^tana. 
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Our prico $15.70. Savo 80 cents 

and earn t bonus point 



40 BITS& BYTES - May. 1984 



T€L€CO/V\PUTING 



* 



# THE FINEST IN PIRATE WARE: THE ROMSWITCH WITH KRACKROM NMI • * 

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# YOUR NEW HARDWARE WILL REWARD YOU WITH MANY YEARS OF * 

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Krackowicz 
— daddy of 
the pirates 

By John MacGibbon 

Last month we looked at the 
activities of computer phreakers in 
America, as chronicled on electronic 
bulletin boards. 

A number ol files from these 
"pirate" boards, downloaded on to 

floppy disk, have fascinated New 
Zealand Apple users in recenl 
months. As well as giving an insight 
into illegal Wargames style activity, 
the files contain an enormous 
amount of information on software 
protection and cracking techniques. 

A gentleman (or is it a lady?) 
named Krackowicz is the articulate 
and often amusing host of the 
cracking section of a New York 
bulletin board called the Jolly Roger. 

Krackowicz has lofty "ideals", 
and with a little inspiration from 
America's founding fathers he 
declares that his activity is dedicated 
to the proposition that "all men ate 
equally entitled to the knowledge 
and enjoyment of computers and 
software." (!!!) 

His self-appointed task is to ". . . 
provide information and stimulate 
dialogue among the international 
brotherhood of software crackists." 

His disclaimer warns: 
"The management of this system, as 
well as your host, certainly do not 
advocate or advise any illegal acts, and 
all information presented here Is 
intended to educate, inform, or amuse 
those who read It." 

As any self-respecting Blackboard 

would snort. "Yo ho ho ..." 

Undoubtedly a good deal of plain 
software theft is being encouraged 
by these pirate boards, but 
Krackowicz and his ilk appear equally 
motivated by the intellectual 
challenge of it all. 
Indeed, the pirates appear to feel 



kinship with devisers of software 
protection schemes, Talking to 
beginner crackists Ort the subject o1 
"obfuscation. or intentional lack of 
clarity," Krackowicz gives warning 
that the major software companies, 
"... know we aie out here waiting 
for their latest output. They often try 
to misdirect us or find innovative 
ways of hiding sensitive portions of 
the program with a variety of 
techniques." 

Trainee pirates who find this 
disconcerting aie assured the 
defeating of such attempts to 
obscure the trail will bring nothing 

but joy. But the task will not be easy ; 

"This is a discipline: perhaps not so 
demanding as championship karate or 



the Unification Church, but it r&quiies 
knowledge, patience and attention to 

detail." 

Pastime for the 
experienced 

K rackowicz says his t ips are aimed 
at the beginning to intermediate 
software crackers. That doesn't 
mean beginning computer users. A 
good knowledge of assembly 
language is assumed, and if you 
haven't passed BASIC yet, forget it. 

The Jolly Roger files amount to a 
Ipng (nearly 25,000 words! series of 
tutorials describing a variety of 
protection techniques, and leaching 



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*********************************»#*-***■* 

MSG LEFT BY DR NIBBLEMASTER 

DATE POSTED: WED JULY 28 6:51:47 Pfl 

TO ALL YE PIRATES: HOW TO CRACK CPR06RAM X3 

BOOT 3.3 

RESET INTO MONITOR 

C091 C091 DOOCK9000.BFFFM 

16K CARD IN SLT 1 

FFFC:59 FF N C091 

BOOT GAME 

RESET INTO MONITOR 

C090 9DOD<DOOO.F2FFMN C091 

7FD=4C B 

9DBFG 

16CA:4C 00 48 

A9cS4:FF 

BSAVE C PROGRAM X 3 , A*7FD,I_$8FFQF 

NOW YOU HAVE A CRACKED CPROGRAM X3! 
************************************* 



the process ot memory snooping 
(" . . . the unglamorous activity that 
occupies most of the time of the 
dedicated Krackst"). Instructions 
are provided foi a hardware aid 
available through the bulletin board: 
the "Romswitch with Krakom NMI". 

Popular software given the 
Krackowicz treatment includes 
Cyclod, Type Attack. Super 
Puckman, and the Arcade Machine. 

Krackowicz is quick to compliment 
new and clever potection schemes, 
but he scorns software houses that 
make it too easy; 

"After the excellent and challenging 
protection Sirius put on the 
Bandits /Cyclod group. it was 
discouraging to see the putrid litdos 
command change on Escape from 
Rungistan," 

Other bulletin board liles doing the 
rounds- lately have come from a 
board called Pirates Harbour. Unlike 
the Jolly Roger files, this material 
consists mainly o J shorter messages 
which detail general cracking 
techniques plus specific solutions for 
a large number of programs. 

Few contributors leave their real 
name, preferring pseudonyms such 
as Mr Xerox, Dr Nibblemaster, Red 
Rebel, Long John Silver, Disk 
Zapper. and the Eig Toe. 

Sample contribution headings: 

• How I cracked Superscribe II Ver 

3.2 over Christmas weekend 
(Clonernanl. 

• Cracking Softporn, VisiCalc and 
Visiterm (Richard Brandow). 



• Using the ramcard as a m3jor 

cracking tool (Axe Man). 

* Some places to look for good 
ideas and help on cracking. 
Messages can be long and 

complex, but most are short and 
cryptic. 

This is not for amateurs. Trying to 
keep up with the experts evidently 
caused a deal of frustration for one 
Earle Bestick, who left the following 
message on Pirates Harbour: 

"Try'd B iry'd & lry'd to crack a disk, 
bui only managed to bend one! 'til after 
many (ryes (sic), I succeeded. My magic 
formuia follows, and will work on any 
disk of any manufacturer: 
1. Put disk in deep freeze for 24 hours. 
2- Take disk out of freezer and with a 
brisk movement, bring sharply against 
the edge of the counter, desk or ihe 
like. 
This will crack it for sure. 




42 -BITS 8.' >v. 1984 



mnmimwmitimamNMBmMmamou ^ 



B€GINN€RS 

Pascal, 
FORTH 
and C 

By Gordon Findlay 

BASIC is, as I said lasT month, ;he 

most common, and therefore the 
most important, programming 
language in the micro world. Other 
languages though are used, and have 
their own special features. 

Pascal 

Pascal was designed by Nicklaus 
Wirth to be a language which was 
relatively easy to learn, but which 

was also very powerful, and included 
lots of the programming and data 
structuring features which were 
being invented in the early 1970s. It 
is based on the earlier ALGOL 
language. Pascal is not an acronym, 
but the name of an important 
mathematician of the seventeenth 
century. 

Program structure is to do with the 
sort of constructions which you can 
write. Pascal has many statements 
for coding loops for example, so that 
the programmer can choose the 
most appropriate. Pascal programs 
are written in pieces, called 
PROCEDURES, which are like small 
programs, which are called up in 
order. This makes program testing 
and debugging simpler, as each 
procedure can be tested 
independently. 

Pascal handles many different 
types of data. Numbers, characters, 
and strings, or course, but also 
pointers, sets, arrays, and records. A 
record Is a collection of several 
related items, such as a name, 
address, telephone number, account 
number, amount owing and credit 
rating in an accounting program. 
There is also a facility in Pascal for 
incorporating special data types for 
the convenience of the programmer. 

Pascal programs don't use line 
numbers, as BASIC does, so an 
EDITOR must be used to build the 
program. Pascal is also (usually) a 

compiled language, so developing a 
program becomes a cycle: edit - 
compile test edit Ito fix 

problems) - compile - test, etc. This 
can become tedious if it means 
loading the editor, then loading the 
program into it; changing the 
program; saving the result to disk or 
tape; loading the compiler; compiling 
the program; saving the result (the 
OBJECT code!; testing it. only to 



have it crash straight-away, 
requiring you to go back xo the 

editor! 

If each load or save causes a 
noticeable delay, this can be slow 
compared with the interactive way in 
which BASIC is written. On the other 
hand, both the nature of the Pascal 
language, arid the need to go 
through the edit - compile - test 
cycle, forces the programmer to plan 
ahead, and write carefully. The result 
might well be that the Pascal 
program is written faster over all. 
Less debugging cught to be required 
in a Pascal program than a BASIC 
one. 

Pascal is available almost 
exclusively for disk systems. 

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Commodore systems support 

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a number of versions of Pascal for 
CP/M systems. The BBC has a 
version of Pascal in a plug-in ROM. 

FORTH 

FORTH is a strange language, 
designed to !»e extended by the user 

as he programs! In fact programming 
in FORTH means extending the 
language until it includes a command 
to accomplish whatever the program 
is required to do. FORTH provides a 
kitset o1 elementary operations, 
which can be combined into different 




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44 - Bits a BYTES - May. 1964 



ones, which can be combined 

further, until operators are built 
which do whatever is required. 

FORTH programs are hard to 
follow, and hard to read. Because of 
this, FORTH programmers can write 
code which is short, but does a lot, 
and which takes a lot of work to 
understand. Needless to say. that 
isn't good pfOgrarnrYiing practice! 

FORTH systems usually include an 
assembler, to allow incorporation of 
machine code directly into your 
programs. FORTH is a highly 
interactive language, lending itself to 
immediate testing and modification 
of each program step as it is written. 

The addition of an assembler gives 
(almost) an interactive machine-code 
facility, which is sometimes very 
useful. 

There are a few minuses with 
FORTH. It is hard to read, and there 
are too many standard versions! 
There are so many standards in fact 
that it is crazy to talk of "Standard 
FORTH", even though there are 
published standards documents. 
FORTH uses a "virtual storage" 
scheme, in which disk or tape is 
regarded as a (slow) extension of the 
computer's main memory. FORTH is 
available for many systems, 
including the Apple, TRS-80, ZX-81 
and Spectrum, the BBC, and 
numerous others no doubt. One 
micro, the Jupiter ACE. appeared 
with FORTH in ROM instead of 
BASIC; unfortunately at latest report 
the company was at the point of 
collapse- 

C 

Well at least the name is easy to 
spell 1 C was created in 1972, at Bell 
Laboratories to meet the need for a 
language which would improve the 
efficiency of systems programming. 

Systems programs axe things like 

operating systems, assemblers, 

compilers, and so on. The idea of 
using a high-level language to write 
these was considered outrageous - 
after all, how could they possibly be 
fast enough? However, it happened 
that the language was carefully 
designed in such a way that the 
compiler (translating programl could 
produce code which was very fast. 
From this beginning, C has gradually 
become more and more commonly 
used, for applications programs as 
well as systems work. 

C is a. blend of high and low level 

language constructs. There are many 
features in common with Pascal, and 
yet many in common with machine 

code. The programmer has the direct 
access to the hardware which is 
needed for writing systems 
programs and utilities, with the sort 



B€GINN€RS 



of structured language which is 
required to write good applications 
programs. C is a compromise: it has 
the high-level data types, such as 
records, and also the low-level 
types, even down to direct bit 
manipulation. 

Thus far C isn't common on home 
micros. There Is a version for some 
TRS-80 systems, and various 
versions for CP/M machines. 



Choosing a 
language 



If you find yourself in the happy 
position o+ being offered a choice of 
programming languages, what 
should you do? The languages each 
have their own strengths and 
weaknesses, but what is a strength 
and what a weakness is a fairly 
subjective opinion. I am lucky in that 
I can choose between BASIC, 
Pascal, FORTH, and machine code 
for my system. For a "quick and 
dirty" program I still use BASIC 
(shame!). For any program which 
requires a lot of data to be stored on 

disk, or a long program, I tend to use 

Pascal. FORTH, I reserve for writing 
low-level programs, which might 
otherwise be written in machine 
code. But these are my preferences, 
and I guess nobody else shares 

them I 

In order to give you a taste of the 

various languages. I have written a 

very small program in BASIC, Pascal, 
FORTH and C. All the program does 
is to count to 100 in tens, so 
obviously they don't cover very 
many features! 

BASIC version: 

10 FDR 1=1 TO 18 

£0 PRINT 1*10 

30 NEXT 

40 END 
Pascal VUrftlOA! 

PROGRAM EXAMPLE* 

VPH I- 1 INTEGERS 

BEGIN 



UHTI F 1 f=» 10 DO 
BEQIN 

WRITELNtl'lG): 

I: = H1 

End 

END. 
C vpraion: 
MainO 
( 

tnt count; 
Collet = II 

Uhil« (count ( = 1©> < 
Printf «count*10) ; 
Count +* | 

1 
FORTH vnrsiou: 

iTASK 10 DO I 10 * . LOOP; 

(Please now ihat two reverse 
brace signs at the end of the- C listing 
are nor reproduced because of 
difficulties with Vie Findlay printer. 

— Editor, i 

The examples show that Pascal 
and C are lots more wordy than 
BASIC and FORTH. They cannot 
show that often this is a very great 
advantage, and that the con- 
structions used ir the examples are 
much more powo'ful than their very 
simple uses here. 

There are hundreds of pro- 
gramming languages. They are all, in 
some senses, similar; and in other 
senses widely diffsrent. The days are 
gone in which a programmer who 



knew just one (usually COBOL or 
BASIC) could bo satisfied. My 

prediction is that anybody thinking of 
entering the field professionally will 
need to become fluent in several in 
the course of his or her career. 



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(3€GINN€ftS 

Disks 2: 
Physical 
aspects 

By Gerrit Bahlman 

Presuming that you have avoided 
all the major pitfalls of disk 
ownership such as destruction of the 
recording surface by exposure to the 
local idiot, you may be wondering 
how the system works. 

In the March issue of Bits & Bytes I 
explained the formatting of disks. 
Imaginary circles (tracks) and radii 
(track dividers or sectors} were 
constructed on the disk's surface 
which are then used to locate and 
store information on the disk. A 
directory or volume table of contents 
(VTOC) is constructed at a particular 
point on the disk which the computer 
first accesses to find out where to go 
next. 

In this article we will have a closer 
look at the function oi the disk drive 
itself and learn about its various 

tasks and how it is controlled by the 
computer. 



i ;....:..,-;;;;;;,;. :;., 



The mechanism of the disk drive is 

relatively simple. There are two 

alectric motors that cause two- 
different movements. The big motor 
Causes the disk to spin at a constant 
speed. The dis< is clamped or 
trapped in some way so that it sits on 
the shaft of the motor, The moior is 
calibrated to spin at a precise speed. 
The second, smaller motor moves 
the read/write head back and 
forwards along an arm which lies on 
the radius of the disk. 

The movements are jerky and 
always end up at precise point? of 
the radius. Those points are over the 
tracks on the disk. The amount of 
power delivered to this motor 
determines which track is being 
covered. 

These comments relate to floppy 
disks only, but the principle is the 
same for larger, lard-disk systems. 
In these you mav find a read/write 
head for each irack so that the 
second motor is not needed. You 
may also find several hard disks 
being spun by ths same motor. For 
all that, the mecnanical problem of 
spinning the disk and finding the 

correct track is the same. 

The precision of the read/write 
head and the arm movement motor 



will determine how many tracks can 

be placed on a disk. 

Terms such as "double density" 
refer to the number of tracks on a 
disk compared to the "standard" 
(whatever that may be). "Double 
sided" means that there are two 
read/write heads, one on each side 
of the disk so that you have access 
to twice as. much disk space on the 
same disk. 

The read/write head is technically 
similar to the read and write heads 
on a tape recorder. On disk drives 
they are smaller and more compact- 
When writing information on to a 
disk they "spray" a magnetic field 
on to the disk surface. The surface 
retains the pattern of magnetism 

which can later be read as bits and 
bytes. 

The distance from the disk surface 
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of critical importance to the inter- 
track distance. If tracks are too close 
then it would be possible to get spray 
from one track interfering with 
information stored on another track. 
In large mainframe disk systems the 
heads are so close to the disk surface 
that a jet of air is forced out of the 
end of the read/write head to keep it 
off the disk. To such systems even 



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small particles of dust or human hairs 
would represent boulders to the 
minuie read/write heads. Hence the 
extreme care in major installations. 

The same level of precaution is not 
necessary with floppy, mini-floppy, 
or micro-ffoppy disks. However, 

wear and tear will not be improved in 
dirty or dusty surroundings. 

The benefit of such microscopic 
read/write heads is the number of 
extra tracks that can be used. 
Clearly, the smaller the read/write 
head the less spray there will be to 
worry about. 

When the computer wants to 
access the disk drive and obtain 
information from it, it needs to know 
two things; which track is it on and 
at which sector does it start. Once 
that is known the mechanical job of 
placing the read/write head in the 
correct spot can be organised. 

Physically, the disk drive must 



have a starting point on the disk. It is 
all very well to label the tracks, bui 
the disk drive must be able physically 
to identify where the first track 
starts. The position of the read/write 
head gives this information. 

What about tha first sector? How 
does the disk drive know where it 
starts? The solution is rather straight 
forward. In eve*y disk there is a 
marker that phys cally aligns the disk 
in the drive. On floppy disks this is 
done with a small hole near the 

centre of the disk. 

Once the disk drive knows where 
the start of the t-ack and sectors on 
a disk are, the two pieces of 
directory information (which track, 
which sector) can be used. The 
actual sector can be found just by 
counting! 

In the next article the role of disk 
operating systems will be discussed 
and exolored. 



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Games as a 
tool in the 
classroom 

By D. R. Greenfield 

Professor Tom Slonier reminds us 
that secondary schools are largely 
curricula based, and that the 
educational programs in primary 
schools arc more child centred, 
emphasising the social development 
of the child without the pressure of 
academic achievement. 

He points out that . . . The use of 
computers in secondary schools has 
followed exactly the same pattern 
utilising Computer Aided Instruction 
(CAIJ (drill and practice software! 

and Computer Aided Learning (CALI 
(tutorials) and has usually begun in 
the mathematics department and 
then spread throughout all curricula 
areas of the school. 

The direction for the use of micro- 
computers in secondary schools in 
New Zealand has come rather 



belatedly from the present 

Government in the funn uf 
recommendations to the Minister of 
Education by a Consultative 
Committee formed around 1980. 

Question: Whal direction has been 
given to the Primary sector which is 
child-centred? 

Answer: None it all (so far). 

It is not relevant merely to 

implement a simpler version of the 

secondary schools curricula-based 

programs, nor is it applicable, nor 
oven desirable. What is needed has 
to be child-centred. 

I will discuss just one of the many 
options open to p'irnary schools that 
reinforces the Pagetian theory of 
"Learning through Play". 

I consider the use of games to be a 
valid alternative educational tool. I 
believe that using carefully selected 
games in the classroom can create a 
highly desirable learning environ- 
ment that has been virtually 
untapped. 

Paul Vincent (visiting teacher 
fellow) on the subject of games . . . 
There is an abundance of computer 
games from which teachers can 
choose. The mair selection criterion 
is the educational value of the game 
in relation to time required to play it. 



A downturn in violent ideas is 

helping Lo make games less 
objectionable than before. 

We are all made painfully aware of 
how deeply our children can become 
engrossed in television, arcade 
games and computer games, and yet 
the same magnetism that holds them 
is not being replicated in the 
classroom with traditional instruc- 
tion. I think that the two can, to 
some measure, be combined. 

Computer games can be broken 
down into two broad areas: 
entertainment and educational. They 
also fall into various sub-categories 
of which only those with educational 

value will be considered. 

The proliferation of computer 

games on the market may fall into 
one or more of the following 
categories. 

Arcade games: Mere entertain- 
ment. Thesfi have little or no 
educational value and consist only of 
a never-ending variety of ways to 
move about and destroy alien 
objects. 

Maze games: Often these include 
an element of realism through the 
use of 3-dimensional graphics. The 
maze may be multi-layered to 

increase the level of difficulty and 



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further tax the memory. Sometimes packaged games 

■ mi uv^ilup u( *i ma^u type ga*vie and 



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an adveniure game occurs. Some 
children get very involved with 
these. 

Board games: These encourage 
menial exercises, memoiy recall, 
patience and strategy with 
traditional games such as chess, 
draughts, backgammon and some 
newer variations of those. 

Simulation: Otten a model for a 

real-time situation that may be too 
dangerous, too expensive, too time- 
consuming or loo difficult to do 
otherwise. Simulations and models 
are becoming commonplace in job 
training, e.g. airline pilots. 

Educational games: Some of the 
more recent CAI packages are 
subject related and although thev are 
often purely a drill and practice 
program, thoy may include many of 
the gaming features found in other 
types of games as a method of 
reinforcing 'correct' responses. The 
quality of this type of program is 
increasing as teachers are becoming 
more particular and discerning in 
their choice for classroom use. 

Adventure games: I consider these 
generally to be of the greatest value 
of all. Many are written as interactive 
fiction where strategy, logic, and 
problem-solving skills play an 
important part of the game. 
Participants also benefit from 
increasing their familiarity with the 
keyboard. They increase their 
reading skills within the language 
boundaries of the game, improve 
memory recall, and learn to cope 
with frustration. 

Without encouraging an invasion 
of aliens or lots of shoot-ups, many 



do serve an 
educational purpose, are non- 
violent, and are a lot of fun. 



Encourage the 
development of a 
strategy 

Processes of reasoning, logical 
thinking, and problem solving have 
always been among educational 
objectives. Perhaps the particular 
value of the besi computer games is 
that they encourage the develop- 
ment of a strategy. 

By interacting with the computer 

competitively, by discovering what 
effect an action or play has, and by 
working out a systematic strategic 

plan based on these observations, a 
child is learning to apply processes 
that go to the heart of reasoning, 
thinking and solving problems- 
Many pupils will want to try 
writing and playing their own game 
programs, either by copying listings 
from magazines and books, or by 
learning programming in a language 
like BASIC themselves. Having mode 
a move into the programming side of 
games gives a child a tremendous 
sense of achievement and control 
over the computer that is hard to 
match in any other way. 

In conclusion, I believe that 
carefully selected computer games 
can be a valuable alternative 
educational tod that could use 
computers in the classroom to 
advantage. 

However, I see this only as a 
means to an end Through the use of 
games, pupils readily learn the 



syntax of languages, develop 
problem-solving skills, and reinforce 
educational concepts that will stand 

them in good stead for information 

processing, which by the year 1990, 

may very well involve 90 per cent of 
the world's labour force in some 
form or other. 

The drill-and-practice approach of 
some schools is a very expensive 
way to do things that schools 
already do. There is something better 
to he done in New Zealand's primary 
and secondary schools that involves 
the use of the computer as a tool 
... a word processor for example, 
or a data -base manager, a must 
editor, or a graphics editor . . . a tool 
that helps pupils accomplish tasks 
defined by the pupils, not "by tht 
computer. 

All this could be achieved by using, 
skills acquired through the playing of 
worth-while games. 

References 

Shirley Hill: 'The microcomputer m V 
ntstruciionol program* icp'inied in 
Arithmetic Teacher IFob. 19B3I- 

Paul Vincent; visiting tfOCher lellOft, 
Universnv of Waikolo 1983 m a paper tulN 
Using micro- computes in the cl&sstoom. 

Seymour Pa peri; in Mindswuns. CttiltSitn* 
Computers and Power lul Itfoos. 

Karen Sheingold; Director ol the C-entio l» 
Children and technology ul tho Bank Street 
College of Education. New York Citv. fori 
thoughts reviewed »n 'Computers in tru 
Classroom' in Technology Illustrated (Sept, 
19931. 

Pro'ossor Tom Stonier: ol tho University ot; 
Bradford. England, in a lecture on 'New J 
Technology, lis Future Impact* at the Waikaw! 
University (Sept. 1983). 

New Wellington contact 

The micro nows contact 
Wellington is now Pat Churchill; 
telephone 797-193. 



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ARTIFICIAL INTCLUGC-NCC- 



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Quest for an 

intelligent 

machine 

By John Durham 



When does a computet cease to bo 
just a machine, and become something 
rftore than a machine? Most people 
would take a guess, and say, "When it 
csn do this or that," while some would 
say emphatically "never". I am often 
aware that when a new machine 
emerges which can do something much 
better than ever before, I look at it and 
subconsciously raise my standards so 
that whatever the new innovation, it 
somehow always tails just short of being 
that special something I was hoping for. 
It is a personal conflict of ihis type which 
prevents many of us computer nuts from 
taking the responsibility lor this kind of 
development on our own shoulders and 
actually starting work. 

In an article on computer intelligence in 
the October, 1 983, issue of Bits & Bytes, 
I attempted to lay out a machine in 
general (erms, which exhibits a real and 
tangible potential for intelligent 
behaviour. The exchange ol ideas which 
followed allowed me to get a better idea 
of whai the parts of this machine would- 
be like, and although many vital pieces of 
the puzzle have still to be found, enough 
exists so that a tentative start can be 
made. 

Some starts indeed have already been 
made. In the November issue of 
Etectronics Today International was an 
article on TOPO, the robol. TOPO is 



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being made conmerciallv bv a team of 
engineers, scientists and comput-er 
programmers urder the leadership of the 
founder of A.tar, Nolan Bushnell. TOPO 
and BOB, a moie advanced big brother, 
are personal robots which can learn the 
lay-out of your home, know each room 
by name, and be trained to fetch your 
slippers or serve drinks at parties. BOB 
can even analyse objects and find his 
way around furriture and other obstacles 
by using ultrasonic sensors. 

Someone recently asked me if I had 
built any robots yet (probably after 
having read the same article), and I very 
sheepishly had lo say no. Is this kind of 
robot your idea of an intelligent machine? 
Probably not. although it does fit mosi 
people's concept of Buck Rogers's 
"Tweeky", it is really onty a pre- 
piogrammed commercial and household 
job doer. By it sell ii represenis an 
enormous effort from many talented 
people, but in terms of intelligent 
machine development it seems to 
contribute only a useful casing into 
which such a machine could be put. 
TOPO and BOB both fit quite well into 
the category of a mechanical peripheral, 
which could be looked up to something 
much more powerful in future. 

So what is lliis intelligent machine 
likely to be any way? You could just as 
easily ask what is a human being 
anyway? It is an entity which spends its 
time monitoring fts environment, 
gathering useful information, working 
out how 10 best satisfy its primary needs 
Ipower, rest, mobility, awareness, 
survival and lastly more information!, 
pondering upon the best way to spend its 
period of existence, communicating with 
other entities, and inevitably making 
some mistak-es. After all, a mistake is 
something you make when you don't 
have enough information. Humans do it 
all the time, and no matter how all- 
knowing a machine could become, it 
would still bo lim ted by the information it 
does not have. 

The type of machine being described 
here is as far beyond TOPO and BOB as 
men consider themsefves to be beyond 
the laboratory rat. 

Whal about the practical problems ol 
intelligent circuits? A mainJrame, with all 
its miles of wire, hundreds of terminals 
and vast memory is not really an 
intelligent circuit, is it? Almost without 
exception, they share the same problem 
as the humble nicro-computer: that of 
having only one or two central 
processors doing all the work, and 
having to manage alt that hardware at 
the same time. 

Bigger processors add more hardware 
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circuits work harder, and there seems to 
coma a point where with the mosi 
powerful processor available, you just 
can't make ii do any more work than its 
circuit limitations will allow. Multiple 
processors are the answer 10 this 
problem. Make small units with average 
power which can fit together on a form 
of multi-processor bus in large numbers. 
Give each processor an interface, which 




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CITS 6 BVTES - May. '984 51 



ARTIFICIAL INT€LLIG€NC€ 



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ii can use to ar.r.fKs nut side devices, and 
put into each one an EPRQM containing 
an "autonomous operating system". 
This means that individual units in the 
machine work by themselves under (he 
direction of a master processor, and 
never need to tie accessed by a human 
user at all {with the exception of general 
maintenance and expansion work). 

Each master processor in turn is 
piogrammed to seek out and evaluate 
new information, and pass it between 
one unit and anothei, or to other master 
processors in other places. This is all 
fine, but it implies building a machine 
which will quifltly tick over without 
producing any tangible results at all, and 
I would hardly bfl writing an article about 
them if this were true, sc- what do you do 
with it all when it is built? 

The value ol any machine lies in its 
peripherals, and the things those 
peripherals can do. It's 8 bit like saying, 
"Isn't Ehe brain a wonderful piece of 
equipment." But if it didn't know it bad 
all those peripherals, such as arms, lags, 
eyes, ears, mouth etc, it would just sit 
there in your head and lick over without 
producing any tangible results. It 
therefore seems reasonable that if the 
machine is to communicate -with a user, 
it would be supplied with the standard 
issue keyboard and video display. 
Thoroin, however, lies the first problem 
in developing such a machine. Do you re- 
invent all the existing technology to suit 
the new machine, or do you build a 



machine to suit existing technology? 

At first, you hay< to begin somewhere, 
so while the probl-ims of multiprocessor 
bus interfaces are Ming considered, why 
not build a unit vulh the ability to plug 
into the main bus system ol a specified 
micro -computer end use the existing 
keyboard, tape, disk and video 
equipment which it already has, to solve 
your biggest headaches and get down to 
the real problems at hand. Taking ovoi 
the internal hardware, or just sharing it 
briefly with the resident processor is not 
all that difficult to do for a device 
plugged into the average micro- 
comp uter in this w ay, and besides, it ha s 
the reminiscent appoal of R2D2 of Stat 
Wars. 

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and a micro-computer to supply data lor 



decoding. The output of speech is done 
by breaking down text into identifiable 
sounds, or phonemes, and then playing 
the phonemes Irom a ROM speech 
pattern recording out to an amplifier. 

Voice recognition is more difficult, 
since everyone's voice sounds a little 
differeni from everyone-else's, so it is 
often carried out by using the same set 
of phoneme- patterns, and carrying oul 
tests to find the best match from all 
phonemes available, and then reporting a 
standard phoneme back to a micro- 
computer. Standard units for doing this 
are not yet commonly available, and are 
usually found only on large machines in 
expensive industrial environments where 
regular contact with a keyboard or 
control panel is impractical or hazardous. 
If you are not technically inclined then 
skip the next paragraph. 

A high speed analog-digital, and 
digital-analog converting circuit as 
shown in figure 1 is the solution I would 
put forward for (hose problems, at least 
until a better one comes along. For 
incoming data Ithat is when the 
computer is listening) the (wo CMOS 
counters are used to produce an analog 
voltage through the resistive bridge, 
which is used by the C A3 140 
operational amplifier to direct the 
counters to count up or down in order to 
follow the incoming signal, The count on 
the counters is proportional to the input 
voltage, and is reported bock to (he 
computer through the 74LS244 buffer 



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52 BiTSA BYTES - May. 198* 



ARTIFICIAL INT€IUG€NC€ 

rtrare«wre.viw^ .vv.r»v.v.vf^Av^v.\v.v.v.v.«^^ ""' T'ttn'. OItllOHILI I OilWl W i' 



chip. Sampling data Irom here, the 

computer can produce a record of any 
incoming signal and test it for validity. To 

reproduce the same signal, the computor 
outputs this data to port 80H, which 
turns the counters into registers, and 
produces identical voltages out because 
it uses the same resistive bridge to 
produce a voltage from the data. The 
output signal causes- the output amplifier 
(the second CA3L40) to be switched on, 
and a signal is produced at the output. 
Thus it is conceivable that one unit could 
handle both speech output and 
recognition, and pass the data back to 
the main system, 

To operate any system where 
commands are to be given in the form of 
speech, it is necessary to have- a 
command library stored so that the 
device can interpret what you say, and 
respond, even it only on a rudimentary 
level. If, as is implied by the subject 
uoder discussion here, the library of 
words is to be very large, then separate 
units must be created so that they can 
store, assess and actively manipulate the 
language required. Words might be 
stored either phonetically, or as a 
dictionary having a phonetic conversion 
system for plain text output. A typical 
exchange between human and computer 
with an extensive library might then 
consist of: 

USER: Where did I leave that 
screwdriver? 
COMPUTER: You put it in your pocket. 



Having described some typical 
interfaces of the many possible, there 
comes the point where it is necessary to 
have all this working together, so that 
when the user says, "Where did I leave 
that screwdriver?"' the computer hears, 
understands, and can compose and 
produce the reply, "You put it in your 
pocket." 

Without mentioning how the computer 
goes about keeping track of the 
screwdriver without being told to by the 
user, it seems reasonable on a more 
fundamental level lo have these signals 
passing easily backwards and forwards 
from the library CPU's to th e speech CPU 
with greatest efficiency. Having a 
background in Z-80 hardware and 
software, my ansv/er is therefore from 
this point of view/. Certain machine 
instructions, notably of the IN A. IC I and 
OUT (C), A types aie known to place the 
contents of the B and C registers of the 
CPU on the upper and lower halves of the 
address bus during port operations. This 
gives the option of having 64K of ports 
available instead of only 256 ports 
usually associated with an 8 bit CPU. To 
this end 64K of RAM can be set up as a 
message centre to interface between 
CPU's, and by allocating different areas 
of this to different CPU's, messages can 
be sent in many dilferent ways without 
waiting for one message to be cleared 
before another can be sent (unless it is to 
a CPU which has not yet cleared its 
message area). Pan of the RAM is given 



to the master CPU, and this always has 
the greatest priority to use it at any time. 

NIFTY HARDWARE 
REQUIRED 

Getting messages backwards and 
forwards along a bus to put them in this 
RAM area requires some nifty hardware, 
since the information travels very rapidly 
(at CPU speedl, and any unit may try to 
use the bus while another one is already 
doing so. Designs for this are still pretty 
tentative, but it is fairly certain that none 
of the standard computer bus systems 
(i.e. S50, S10O, IEEE etc) are quite up to 
this kind of thing. I am keen to exchange 
designs with interested readers, should 
anyone have some suggestions on this. 

Information storage is required so that 
many units operating in the same 
machine can all store their flexible 
operating systems. Three main options 
for mass storage are open to a project of 
this nature: Disk, Tape loop (Corvus 
systems 2O0Mb drivel, or magnetic 
bubble memory. They are all fairly 
expensive, and all very sophisticated 
methods of data storage. Disks are about 
the commonest and cheapest, but 
involve constantly changing disks unless 
you have many drives, and powering 
down the system requires removal of 
disks by the user. The tape loop system 
provides the greatest mass storage, but 
also the longest access time lup to 10 



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BITS & BYTES - Way. 1984 



53 



L€TT€fiS 



seconds), and requires cassette removal 
on power down. Bubble memories of this 
size would be extremely expensive, but 
provide rton -volatile storage with a fairly 
high speed of access (no power is 
required 10 maintain the data when the 
system is switched off). In an-y event, a 
separate micro-computer devoted to this 
job is a logical extension of the intelligent 
systems idea, and it would provide a 
butrer (or storing and retrieving data at 
much higher speeds. 

Creating and extending operating 
systems on EPROM is currently being 
taken in band, with an EPROM 
programmer design which will interface 
to almost anything having a 2& pin 
EPROM socket spare and a source of 
READ, WRITE and IORQ (input/output 
requestl signals. 

Finally, a system of this nature is 
impossible without the help of highly 
skilled people, so if you have a ny mtere st 
in this type of development, and 
particularly if you are mechanically 
skilled tall the response so far has come 
from people with electronic skills), then I 
would be very interested to exchange 
ideas and suggestions with you. If you 
are interested to play a part in this type 
of development then write to: 

John Durham 

Modec Instrument Ltd 

16 Hudson Ave 

Upper Hutt 
or phone (04) 236-786. 



.•.v.;.-./.:;..-' ■;::;■;■■ ;■';■';■' :»;■ :;■■!;■:: '.■:■.;:: 



PLI defended 

An article on languages in the 
March issue of Bits & Bytes 
mentions PL/I and manages to repeat 
the all-to-common fault of damning 
with faint praise. The catty comment 
about 'BM that always seems to be 
included with references to PL/I is 

quite unnecessaty. I wonder if all the 
experts who comment on PL/I really 
have any practical knowledge of the 

language. 

A very good PL/I compiler is 
available on micros and was 
produced by Digital Research, no 
less. Some benchmarking results 
were published in Byte magazine 
some time ago lhat showed it to be 
the best performer of all on the test 
program. 

Certainly, it is not 3 language for 
novices to take up. BAStC remains 
the best op"ion for novices. 
However, for anyone serious about 
computing including micro comput- 
ing and wishing to be professional in 
their programming, PL/I is without a 
doubt, the best language for general 
purpose use. 

It has the mathematical routines 
you might need Fortran for, the file 



processing you might need Cobol 
for, the structured programming 
support that you might need Pascal 
for, and in addition gives the 
programmer control for storage 
allocation, and recursive procedures, 
and the ability to do list and suing 
processing. 

PL/I would have been more. 

successful if it had not been bad- 
mouthed from the start. However, it 
is an excellent programmer's tool 
and is highly successful in a very 
wide spectrum of uses. 

Paul Bieleskl 
Coromandel 



IMPORTANT 

Please include youf name 
and address with ALL 
subscriptions and back copy 
orders. 

If you haven't received any 
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could be because we don't 
have your address! 



"0. 



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-OWIKST 



John Durham's high-speed CMOS analog-digital converter. 

54 - BITS& BYTES - Mav. 19B4 



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BITS & BYTES - Mii V . 19B4 55 



OSBORN6 



-/---■ 



Teach 

yourself 

typing 



By N.E. Whitehead 

What can be more important for the 
personal computer enthusiast than to be 
able to communicate with his pet in the 
most efficient possible way? Until good 
and cheap voice commands are possible 
touch-typing seems essential. This 
program drills you in that. 

This program luns on an Osborne 1. 
under MBASIC-80 revision 5.21 . It (its in 
less than 3K. Other users may need to 
change some things. Those are 
described lator. 

It will help to buy a book on the 
subject, but briefly your left and right 
fingers should sit as much as possible on 
letters ASDF and JKL, respectively, and 
only the linger required for the current 
letter should move away from there i.e. 
the whole hand should move as little 
from there as possible and return home 
early like a good boy after any 
excursions. The finger to type a letter 
should be the one nearest it. Index 
fingers do a lot exiral 

The program therefore drills you first in 
ASDF JKL. If you use it sensibly, it then 
drills you progressively for the remainder 
of the alphabet in the order of 



approximate frequercy of occurrence of 
those letters as they occur in English. 
This Includes comma and tull-stop. It 
does this by generating a line of pseudo 
words for you to copy made up only of 
the range of letters you select. At ihe 
end of the line it rsports statistics on 
how fast you typed and how many errors 
you made. The figure lor characieis per 
second is probably more sensible to 
measure progress v>ith than the figure 
for words per minute. Note that to 
achieve o relatively modest 40 words per 
minute you are aiming for about five 
characters per second which is almost as 
challenging as a video game! 

If you really must finish your copying 
with a carriage retjrn before the line 
ends it will still give you a progress 
report. 

To use the program, note the display it 
gives you of the letters in the order you 
will be taught then. You select one 
which is the one making ihe end of the 
range within which you wish to practise. 
The program assumes that letter may be 
a new one for you, and hence supplies 
many more of that letter per line than you 
would expect. If you specify the last 
letter of the entire range (Q) it will still be 
present in greater than normal 
frequency, but you will be able to 
practise on all the letters at once. 

Aftor you ore foiri> proficient with the 
random garbage the program produces 
you may wish to practise on some of the 
random garbage found in books or 
magazines. The computer cannot tell 
you what your error rate is. but if you 
specify to it that you are copying real 



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text Ii will lei you continue line afier 
painful line (you must insert carriage 
returns and the bell warns you / places 
before the end of the screen) until you 
press ESCAPE, when it will present you 
with your statistics for that run. 

Some warnings: this program is a hard 
task-master. Random material is quite 
difficult to type. However, it really will 
train your fingers to be independent. 
Also, if you type an extra space or non- 
printing character in your copy, the 
program is liable lo count all your 
subsequent efforts on that line as errors 
because they are one space displaced 
from the truth. And please - don't end a 
line of copy with a lot of spaces - they 
won't be in the supplied random 
material, and will give you a gratifyingly 
high Ibut sadly false) total in words per 
minute. 

Please also note thai regularity of 
typing is important and that the program 
can help with this. H- includes a statistic 
"% erratic" which is actually the 
Standard deviation o' ihe time between 
characters. You should see this drop as 
yog type more regularly. However, when 
you start copying real text it may rise 
because of the disturbing effect of 
carriage reiurns. 

Changes for 

other machines 

Here follow the changes other users 
may need to make. Specifically: the 
Osborne has a screen 52 characters 
wide. For your use, change SCRC0L to 
your particular value; check function 
ASC (ASCII value of charaeterl and LEfsl 
(length of string) and ELSE are in your 
BASIC vocabulary. Check thai ihe ASCII 
equivalents of space, carriage return, bell 
and ESCape really are 32,13.7 and 27. 

The timing will need to be individually 
adjusted also. To do this you must lype a 
very slow line of typing in exaclly 100 
seconds! The program will report how 
many seconds it thinks it was - then use 
(hat figure for SC (line 8) - i.e . substitute 
it for the '100' given alongside. 

The program teaches you only upper 
case at ihe moment and not even 
numbers. Ii teaches you 29 keys. If you 
want lo extend this you musi extend 
both the figure for SET, and the DATA 
statements accordingly. 

Good hunting! (But hopefully, not 
much more hunting and pecking!) 

0/ Neil Whitehead, a nuclear physicist 
formerly of Welfington, is now working 
with an international research agency in 
Monaco. 



Footnote: Just before Bits & Byres 

wont to press, a note was received 

from Neil Whitehead in Monaco. He 

says that line 293 of his listing 

should be changed to: 

293 PAINT 100*S/(SZ/CHRSI, "V 

ERRATIC. 



56 R1TS6BYIJS Mnv. 1&64 



OSBORN€ 



**»»™i»«p: ' :■ ■'■'■ ■■■■'.'.■ - 



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35 INPU1 'HWHWftl TO SUMO TEiniY/Nt: \M 

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3? IF DB--N* TtCN GOIO 193 

40 ran *■> 10 setiread nen 

41 DAIA A,S,D.F,J,K,L,' i".E.1. 1.0. H.C.fc.H.N. O.'. '.*.". P.B.G 

4; PAIR H.T, ¥,*,£■« 

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112 FOR l"l TO SCRCOL 

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114 NEU ( 

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150 IF CX*i "HE* irtut-;; 

160 H.XI * 

l'« FOfl *•! '0 5CftWt.sfi-.IMt CH**<»Vi"! 



100 NE1T " 

195 PRINT: PBINTiPftlNI "MHEN hCAW SH*T COFUNvi " 
197 IlMEa)!l(OBDS *OlCH»S-<iit»OfiS aOiCflUfrOiUiiO 

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205 HE" HESE STARTS THE 1111N6 

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220 IF LENiDtl=0 IHEN GOIO 2lO 

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240 IF DVCHFI«ll3l THEN GOTO 272 

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270 IF CHKS<- SCRCtX IHEN GOIO 210 
272 MORDS-HOftDS'llCOl.S-0 
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277 IF REhl •) I HEN WJIO 210 

2W FfllhT *CRK," HOPfls" 

283 FfilNT TInE/llCS.- SECONDS'' 

290 FfilNT ■OlOSIt ICSlDO'IlnE, "UOfiDi, F£h niMUTE" 

291 CP£-D*JStt]CS'T]HElS*53fi<lS;2 DJlSi/OtfiiX MOIKS-ll I 
2«2 PRINT CFB.-CHftRfltltRS PER BECONO" 

29Z FRJNI lCOl3/ltinC/£l«6).-); EBMTIC- 

¥14 IT REAL "I THEN 6010 |V3 
293 FRINI iUhOKS. - EMfOPS.- 

340 GOTO So 
31V END 



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Neck suffers no unnecessary twisting. 
Documents In the natural reading position. 

3. VDU Platform with adjustable height. 

Back straight — no slouch. — no aches. 
Eyes kept at 24"-28" (rom screen to avoid dislurbance by 
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BITS & BYTES - May, 198* 57 



MAIL ORDER 

HARDWARE & 

SOFTWARE 



Besf range available in 
N.Z. for home computers 



ZX81 
ZX SPECTRUM 
ELECTRON 

VIC20 

CBM64 

BBC 



Plus a wide range of 
peripherals 

Join our mail listing for 
updated specials and 
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&ANKCABD - VISA ■ CASH PRICES 

K'RD 

Computer 



ZX81 

Waif Pack 



In this game by Kevin Clark, of 
Wellington, the player commands a 
destroyer. An enemy submarine is 
displayed beneath the destroyer. By 
careful timing the commander can depth 
charge the sub, hitting the conning 
tower. 

rnsirtictions: 

5 move left 

8 move right 

drop depn charge 

Stephen Baker, ihe Bits & Bytes ZX81 
editor, says this is a very good game, but 
il requires very careful timing to hit the 
sub. The game is over when the sub is 
hit. but unless the player Is accurate, the 
game can continue for a long limo. 
Stephen suggests the following 
changes: 

1 . Delete line- 270 and substitute 
265 FOR N = 1 to 10 

270 NEXT N 

This should eliminate screen flicker- 

2. Change line S20 to; PAUSE 100 
This should return to the game quickly 

lie LET D-13 

123 LET C--1 

IliO LET C»CH 

149 LET SX=3T 

1S0I LET SV=IW7 (PNDHOI »* 

lfcO LET f=9 

17» LET X=D-'4- 

?3D CLS _ 

210 PRINT FIT »,«"-ir 

22a PPINT_" 

.:.- PRINT BT I,D,"™™^™" 

B43 If V»SV tWO St=SH*3 THEN GOT 

O QCSO 

SFO PRINT *IT ••'■ ■"■■ ' -■ 

.'•■:.- ■•'• IN" 1 .41 . ,-, > ■ ,1 

278 pnuse -io 

2T3 POKE ia4>9?,ae;s 

300 LET SX-SX-1 

31© IF SXiB THEM COT0 133 

33ta IF INKEYS=*'5" AND I»l THEN 

030 iF~INKEY*^"8" AMl> D-42B THBH 

LET D=D+a 

Q4B ir INKEV«»-0" Oh v : u then l 

ct Ttr+a 

3S3 IF V>^ flMD Y (S»»S TtlCN GOTO 

3ft© COTO 1GB 

OOa PRINT Ci 'TSCt>FEO' 

910 PRINT OT SY,SX;~600H" 
&tO PR-USE 9999 
930 GOTO 110 

Counter-Attack 

This is a teach-a-tot counting game 
with built-in sound effects, written by 
Nicolas Allan, aged 1 1 , for his four-vear- 
old brother. If the ZX81 is being used 
with a regular black and white television 
set as a monitor, just turn the volume up 
adjust the tuning 10 Suit, and then fire 
sway. 

Line 130 can be altered to 
LETV'LbL+1 

This will speed things up if necessary. 

Use ke-ys 1 to 9 to fire lasers. 



i 

a 

e 

» « 



RLM "COUNTER nTTRCK' 
LET N=INT IRND»9l.l 

^fi*»vi ir\ i fl*i* tit 



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Ph. 399-655 



GOSUO 10*1 £ 

LET S=0 

lO LET R*-"W' 5_- .l- -. .... 

IP LET Bt' , '\J r \J r \y\Jr< r 

te LET Ci»" 

Vf LET DS = " " 

IS PPIN1 «T w,B; "SCORE*"; s 

20 LET Hs-INT (RMI>*0)+1 _, . 

05 IP N*S THEN LET fl«-fi»l TO 1 

SSJ II* N<G TMPN LET B*o"" 

4-0 LET L=S 

SO LET tl«-OTTt* M 

IGP Pf»3Nr OT i_,0;C*;wr l.?,d;cj 



;FTT L*-l,e=;fi*.;flT L*»,a;©« 

lie let i*=irirtcr» 

isc ar i*.Nt tmcn Gooue 306»>> 

Tl-ttN UUIU iS 



B8 Hft*V' 



RT 2S,9; . 

.SI ao.9;"enFMv nrrwch' 
15° 3E~ Le14 then ooto 30ijo 

1-60 GOTO 100 

10OO f-HST 

1305 CLS 

10 IP FOR Is& TO 23 

1015 PRINT AT 3, T;'W,rtT 18,*,™ 

lOOO HEXT I 

la^ici COk i-4 to x? 

10-tO PRINT BT 1,6; "I 



■;ht 1,33. 



.";flT 21,1, 



lO-O NEXT I 

10*30 FOR 1=5 TO 31 

1078 PRINT OT 1Q,I; 

lOSO NEXT I 

10-9C1 PRINT OT 3?l,Si "■ 

1JC0 SLOU 
1110 RETURN 

&««« JF N <» ThCN LET D»=D»1 TO 1 

3- IS-N) *2-l/KJ 

aai.0 point it i ; e,o$;or r,B;c$ 
2030 FH5T 

M*P LET Z«»"" 

»OSO FOR 1^1 TO 40 

S06B LET X*«Z*»". . . . " 
2UTO NEXT I 

SO-Se LET H-N 

ErC9C IF M>5 THEN LET H=S 

aioei odiht ot L,fl;"i a 3 4 3 

" C TO H«--_>-l t 

2116 IF Ni:S THEM PRINT »T L»2,Si 

" * ? S- 9 " 1 TO 1N-6J t3t** 

312C IF L.=ld THEN RETURN 

21 JO SLOU 

£i4o Pause iee 

riSf PRIN"T fiT L.O, "It < * I t > 

"J.ftT L.*2, 3. "' « ' " >> >" 

iii6U POINV OT L.S;C*l TO 13) , AT 

Li5,SjC»l TO 13' 

23"7Q s_rr ss& »rj 

a-i-^3 RETL'RN 

0060 FR5T 

301C* FOK 1 = 1 TO 4 

JOl-. LET ;*;•"* 
lOBC POv- - i i J i'. 

Sesc l£ St-3s I".. - . .' 

J.0JC i.c . 

": ■■■- ■- NS-O I 

3SIS r -:- ; ■ ? °" 

■ ■■'■■ ■ LOO 

; . . ;-r 1=1 to S2 

31-.3.C next r 

- . ■ - 

Chopper Drop 

This game by Philip Lord, aged U. of 
Waikanao, runs on 1K. A helicopter is 
dropping cargo, which Ihe user catches, 
with the bucket-shaped object at the 
bottom of the screen. Philip says the 
RAM ran out before he could put the 
scoring in, so when you want to know 
your score at the end of the game, you 
key in PRINT S. Use 1 to move the 
bucket left; zero to move it right, 

1 REM CHOPPER DROP 
S REM by PHILIP LfffiP 
lO LET 5^0 

JO L-ET a -s 
4-0 LET C-20 

3Q LET C=a 

oV L El C -0 

7Q LET G-l 

90 LET g^g+fl 

90 PRINT RT D,H*2; "■ 
IWi) PPLMT or 0*J,fl; "J 
no print pt B«a,n; 
12rO PRINT RT Bt3.fl> 
>a« <">tHi Ml c,o;""_ 
140 PPINT AT C+1.&; 
1S0 IF INKEV* = M l'' THEM LET D=D- 



'160 IF IMKEV* = ' 



THEN LET D=0* 



17*0 CLS _ , 

ISO If DsQ TMKM LCI P=P*i 

^Si iF^I^THEH LgT P.-C 

aio print hi c,t;H 

IsO IF T C-C°SnO E-D*l THEN LET S 

a«e tf c^c qwd e=d+i then goto 

S at5fl tF G=C F>NO EOD+I TMCN CLS 

2oe tF e-c rno eoi>*i thew stop 

BTK COTO O0 



58 - BITS S. BYTES - May. ISBfl 



TRS80/SVST€M 80 

MULTIDOS 
easy to use 

By Gordon Findlay 

This month is a first for this column - 
a review of a major piece of software. 
This is MULTIDOS, a disk operating 
system designed 10 be used in place, of 
TRSOOS. First a fow words about disks 
and DOS's in general, as many will be 
ready to think about adding disk to their 
systems* 

Most readers of the column use either 
a System 80 or a Model 1 TRS-80. both 
of which machines are, technically, 
obsolete. They are still well supported, 
however, and expansion units, providing 
for disk operation, are available from a 
number of sources In Now Zoaland. 
Adding a disk drive is not mere ly a matter 
of money, though, Software must be 
obtained to interface the disk ro the 
computer, looking after such things as 
saving programs on the disk, keeping 
track of where they are, and what parts 
of the disk are "empty": backing up and 
erasing disks, and so on. This software is 
a program, or more usually a group of 
programs, called a Disk Operating 
System, or DOS for short. 

The original DOS was produced by 
Tandy, and called TRSDOS (pronounced 
Triss-DOS). This was a relatively simple 
package, because the hardware was 
relatively simple, and users were not 
terribly sophisticated. As a variety of 
hardware appeared, a variety of 
"improved" DOS's have appeared as 
well, offering additions to the TRSDOS 
commands. 

Usually, an effort is made to maintain 
some compatibility with TRSDOS. 
Commands which ate in TRSDOS are 
usually kept, or added to, rather than 



IMA v.r. 1 ,:-:- :■::■■; ;:■ ■ : ;:■: ■■.■.•i;\'.:-\'.>z: 



Toblo 1: MULTIDOS commands. 



APPEND 


ATTRI8 AUTO 


BLINK 


BOOT 


BREAK 


BUILD CLEAR 


CLOCK 


CLRDSK 


CLS 


CONFIG DATE 


DDAM 


DEAD 


DEBUG 


DEVICE DIR 


DO 


DUMP 


FORMS 


FREE HASH 


HELP 


KEYBRD 


KILL 


LIB LINK 


LIST 


LOAD 


PATCH 


PRINT PROT 


RENAME 


RESTOR 


ROUTE 


SETCOM SKIP 


TIME 


TOPfvlEM 


VERIFY 








Table 2: SUPERBASIC additions. 






EDITING 


SINGLE STEPPING 


BREAKPOINTS 


VARIABLE 








REVIEW 




APPEND 




RENUMBER 


CROSS REFERENCE 


KILL 




LOAD 


MERGE 


SAVE 




NAME 


OPEN 


CLOSE 




DEF FN 


&H. &H 


INSTR 




MOVE 


DUPLICATE 






INPUTS 


LINEINPUT 


DEFUSRO - DEFUSI 


GET 


PUT 


TIMES 




DATA 




FILR LOCATION 


CONVERSION 








COMMANDS 








and 15 "CMD* 








options. 









replaced. But the wide variety of 

hardware has led lo a lot of 

incompatibilities. Disks come in double 
or single density, aid can be double or 
single sided. They may have 35. 40, or 
80 tracks. And the various operating 
systems are not usually compatible with 
each other. Even DOS's which have the 
capability to use a variety of hardware 
often require a lot of work to make it 
happen. MULtlDOS is intended to 
function as easily as. possible with either 
single or double density, and single or 
double sided disk drives, and to be able 
to read and write :o OTHER operating 
system disks as well as its own. This it 
does very well indeed. 

The manual lists a lot of other system 
disks which can be read or written to. 
including most va'ieties of TRSDOS, 
NEWDOS/80. DOSPLUS, DoubleDos, 



and LDOS for the model 1 or model 3. As 
well, most operations with VTOS and 
Ultrados will be Okay. This is ve*y useful 
for people with a variety of disks, or who 
need to read or write to other people's 
systems. 

As well as this capability, MULTIDOS 
is much simpler than many of the others, 
as far as communicating Information to 
the system about the hardware, so is 
easier for the beginner to use. 

I use a double-sided disk drive, which 
MULTIDOS treats as two separate 
drives, numbers and O'- NEWDOS 
treats both sides as being part of the 
same disk, and this stopped MULTIDOS 
from reading a NEWDOS double-sided 
disk properly. However, NEWDOS itself 
permits a transfer to single-sided media, 
which can be read by MULTIDOS, 

Table one summarises the commands 



e=mc' e=mc ! e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e=mc' e—mc' e=mc e-mc; 



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BITS & BYTES - May. 1994 - 59 



TRS80/SYST6M 80 

' ■ ■■■■- ■ ■■■ ■ ■ ■ ■■■■■■ s» 

in MULTIDOS. There is no point fn 
running through all of them, but I will 
mention the most notable. 

BLINK starts or stops cursor blinking. 
BREAK enables or disables the Break 
key. BUILD creates a file of commands, 
for use later by a DO command. This 
moans that a whole series of operations 
can be saved fo» use later. FORMS 
allows you to set the various parameters 
of thtr prin i-oui — t he number of lines per 
page, characters per line, the number of 
lines to skiji at the end of each page, and 
so on. 

KEVBRD sets the keyboard attributes. 
These include the character to be used 
as cursor, repeating keyboard or not, 
lower case keyboard or not, and so on. A 
special keyboaid driver is also provided 
which allows the direct typing of 
graphics characters. The SHIFT and 



- ■• : '■■'■■: 



CLEAR keys to-jether act as a toggle 
between ordnary and graphics 
keyboard. 

LINK permits output to go to more than 
one device; ROUTE redirects output from 
one device 10 another. SKIP is used to 
road a 40 track disk in an 80 track drive. 

System utilities are provided to backup 
a disk, copy files, got a directory of an 
alien disk, lirre a disk drive, test 
memory, transfer between disk and 
tape, spool printer output, and for 
machine code cebugging. A "zapper", 
oi program tor direct alteration of disk 
contents, is also there, but was rather 
elementary, 

Disk systems treat BASIC as a 
program. Entering BASIC adds lots of 
commands to B^SIC, including those to 
interface with the disk drive. 
SUPERBASIC adds commands as listed 



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in table 2. These give extended editing 
di id litn-iny, including o provision w 
review variables as they are changed tm 
program. Used selectively, these at* 
powerful tools indeed. 

MULTIDOS commands aro not usua 
permitted from within a BASIC or otfi 
program. A special overlay is called upt| 
pressing both the ; and ; Keys, whi 
allows you to copy, kill and list liles. a 
obtain o disk directory, from wilhin 
program, and return with thQ prograj 
intact, 

There are a mass of other m'rt 
commands In MULTIDOS, buuhereis 
point in listing them all here. 

The manual is adequate, but ecu 
have done with many more examples 
places it is terse, and disorganised. T 
manual has an irritating habit of includ 
important information in a paragrafl 
which is an aside or additional. It 
important material 

MULTIDOS is a product 
Cosmopolitan Electronics Carporafol 
and is distributed by CSPE Electronic 
Christchurch, 

Corrections to 
VISISORT 

A.G. Briggs has supplied sor 
corrections and amendments to irl 
VISISORT program of his printed in fi 
& Byies in March. 

Line 140 should hove a "RAtyDQM" ailaf 
to reduce the tendency (or ihe same list ml 
generated. 

Line 540 should have been PP =0 not F- 

Line 1 1 80 should now lead: 
1180 PRINT ® N3,USING"MB";NE;rPRIi 
@N2.USING'rt«W":NO+1; 

This was to update thu Total Operation 

couotor correctly. As it was, it would x 
error where a Swop occurred as tho last CVt! 

Line 1890 has hnd the FL=0 deleted m 
instead inserted in Lino 1880. 

Lime 1940 has onother ■conditional H 
added. It should now read: 
1940IFFLfc1 AN0 M=1 THEN 1880 ELSd 
1870 

Th-eso last two alterations wura to coml 
an error which prevented the SHELL sort frc 
correctly sorting odd number lists, e.g. 9. 1 
13. 15. etc. 

COMMERCIAL 
CLASSIFIEDS 

Commercial Classifieds artfj 
available at 50c per wort 

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determine if any advertisement is 
a commercial classified, Al 
commercial classifieds must bt 
paid for before publication unless 
by prior arrangement. 



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today 



60 ens 6 BYTES - M«v. 1984 



I 



SPCCTRUM 



■ ■,;;,; ..■■—, >■-.■■.-. •>.- 



Microdrive, 
Interface 1 
tested 

By Gary Parker 

About a year ago, Sinclair revealed 
plans to produce a microti live, a disk 
drive usln-g a tinvdisk about 3cm across, 
which would hold 1O0K of data, and- 
transfer it at disk drive speeds. The price 
was going to be "less than E50". 

After many hold-ups and major design 
changes, the microdrive is finally 
becoming widely available. How does is 
measure* up to Sinclair's earlier 
specifications? 

The major change has been that 
Sinclair has given up the disk idea, and 
turned the microdrive into a high-speed 
tape drive. Also, the microdrive is a little 
slower, and a little more expensive than 
predicted: an interface is required to 
connect the microdrive to the Spectrum. 
In New Zealand, Interface 1 and the 
microdrive were to retail at $395 each, 
but this has been reduced to $295 each. 
Cartridges are expansive, even in 
England, costing £5, which is about 
twice as much as a normal disk, and 
cartridges cannot store as much as most 
disk drives. They are guaranteed to store 
at least 85K, but may store up to 1O0K. 
This is because the microdrive 
automatically avoids bad spots an the 
tape, so that a tape with several bad 
patches will store 86K, while a perfect 
tape will store 10OK. 

The tape is a continuous loop, 1.9mm 
wide and about 3m long. The tape is very 
narrow considering the stresses it must 
endure while being wound through 
rollers at high speed, and a cartridge 
cannot be expected to last as long as a 



disk. This was said to be the major 
production hold-up: finding a tape 
capable of withstanding such stresses. 
Sinclair has used a video tape with 
lubricant backing, and a cartridge is said 
to last for 5000 read/write cycles, which 
is not as much as a dsk, but is far more 
than an ordinary cassette tape. 

Those are the micrcdrive's bad points, 
which I was aware of before I was lent a 
microdrive for review. Somehow, they 
fadad into the background when I 
actually saw and began to use the 
system. 

The microdrive is a small, simple- 
looking black box, 9cm by 8cm, and 5cm 
high, or about the size of a squat 
cassette tape case. The cartridge is 
incredibly tiny, just 44 by 33mm in its 
case, and 7mm thick. That Is smaller 
than a matchbox, and I couldn't help 
liking it lor its minute dimensions alone. 

The cartridge is easier to put in than a 
disk; you can't put it in the wrong way 
round, and the cartridge end closes off 
the slot so that there is no flap to open 
and shut. 

The microdrive connects to Interface 1 
with an 8cm ribbon cable. The interface 
sits beneath the Spectrum, causing the 
computer to be tilted to what Sinclair 
describe as "a pleasing ergonomic 
angle", and the microdrive sits on the 
left side of the Spectrum. 

While Spectrum owners may resent 
having to pay extra for an interface, it is 
actually very powerful. It contains a new 
ROM which replaces Me ROM within the 
Spectrum, adding new commands. At 
last Spectrum users can make use of 
those mysterious words on the keyboard 
such as CAT and FORMATI 

Apparently the new ROM provides the 
possibility of the user's being able to 
write extensions to the BASIC language, 
since the ROM can be paged, so that the 
machine calls routines stored in RAM. 
But that is for the nost advanced of 
Spectrum users. 



The interface also contains an RS232 
interlace, so that large printers can be 
connected, or the Spectrum could 
communicate with other computers, or 
use telephone modems. 

Network of 64 
machines possible 

Interface 1 also allows networking. 
This means thai Spectrums can be 
connected, allowing programs to bo 
almost instantaneously passed from one 
computer to -another, and enabling 
complex multi-player games between 
computers to occur. This could be the 
most significant advance since computer 
games began! Up to 64 Spectrums can 
be connected, each with its own 
number, so that information can be 
passed between any two particular 
computers, or, using the broadcast 
facility, to all the other computers on the 
net. Broadcasting would be very useful 
in schools, since, for example, a teacher 
with a microdrive could broadcast a 



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a Can copy c-omplolo progrwns In one QO 
b. Car matte copies Ol programs up to 80* long. 
{Von, I did say 80K long.)! 

c very simple 10 use. 

a Has copier) an c'corams we know ol. 

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P.O. Box 76-310 

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Tel: (09) 266-5979 



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BITS & BYTES - May. 1984 - 61 



SP€CTRUM 



program to every pupil's Spevuum. 
By entering CAT t, a list of the 

programs on the cartridge is displayed on 
the scroen. This lakes about seven 
seconds, during which a red tight on the 
microdrive lights up, and the microdrive 
motor can be heard whirring, very much 
like a normal disk drive. The number after 
the CAT indicates which microdrive is to 
be accessed (up to eight miciodrives can 
be connected}. 

To load a program into the computer, 
you use the form: 

LOAD ' "m"; I: "name" 

This looks complex, and is a bit tedious 
to type out, requiring 13 key presses, but 
it is easy enough to remembar once each 
symbol is understood. The asterisk 
indicates that the LOAD refers to a 
microdrive, and the "m";l; identifies 
which microdrive is being accessed. 
Saving a program is just the same, using 
SAVE instead of LOAD. 

The time taken to load a program 
depends on how long it takes the 
microdrive to find the start of the 
program on the tape. It takes about nine 
seconds for the tape loop to go right 
round, so it can take up to nine seconds 
to find the start of a program. But once 
found, even a large program only takes a 
few seconds to load. 

Data cm be st>ved on cartridges, using 
PRINT. Normally, of course, PRINT 
causes things to appear on the screen, 
but with a microdrive you can define 
where you want PRINT to print things, so 
that you can PRINT to Q microdrive 
cartridge. The place you want things to 
bo printed to is called a channel: the 
screen is a channel, and so is a printer, a 
microdrive file, or another computer. You 
send information to a channol through a 
stream. A stream has no physical form, it 
is just a toute through which data can 
pass. Thore are 16 streams. This means 
thai you can have lots of information 
going through many streams to several 
channels, so the new possibilities for 
data storage and manipulation are 
immense, 

Data is stored on a cartridge as a file. 
First you must open a file using OPEN. 
Then data can be saved into a file using 
PRINT. Then it must be finished with 
CLOSE. You can have up to eleven files 
in use at once, each identified by a 
numlwr. For example: 



■-■■-- ■■■••■ 



Interface 2 
offers much 
for games 

By Steven Cragg 

One of a number of peripherals now 
available for the ZX Spectrum, the ZX 
Interface 2. prcvides the games player 
with just about all he needs: two joystick 
ports and a ROM cartridge port. 

The interface is only 75mm by 30mm 
by 1 i5mm and is moulded in "Sinclair 
black" plastic, t is designed to slot into 
either the expansion port of the 
Spectrum or Interlace 1. An interesting 
point is thai the edge connector at the 
back of Interface 2 (obviously inte-nded 
for further expansion!' is only 23-way 
instead of the normal 28-way. This 
moans that about the only thing that can 
be plugged into Interface 2 is the ZX 
printer. This is especially annoying if you 
want to use :>thet peripherals at the 
same time as Interface 2. 

The joystick ports aro of the standard 
9-pin type (surely a first for Sinclair) so 
just about any joystick will work. 
However, there is a great difference 
between joysticks, so bo sure to get one 
that is comfortable lor you to use. The 
joysticks are r^ad from either BASIC or 



machine code. Heading the joysticks 
from BASIC is done by either using 
INKEYS . where each function of each of 
the joysticks corresponds to one of the 
keys on the top row of the keyboard, or 
the joysticks can be read using the IN 
function where I N6 1 438 reads joystic k 1 
and IN63486 reads joystick 2. 
The Interface also includes a cartridge 
port. The cartridges are probably the 
smallest made. They measure only 4cm 
by 6crrv by 1cm. However, they have 
some nice features, for example a little 
rubber skirt to protect the edge 
connector. 

The two big advantages oi cartridges 
arc that no loading is required (you just 
plug one in, switch the computer on and 
hey-presto! there is your game!: and, as 
the cartridges lafce very little RAM to run 
even large games, many games that 
previously needed 48K RAM now can 
run in only 1 6K. 

Over all, at $99, this interface is vory 
reasonably priced. When buying, 
remember that you will probably need at 
least one joystick and budget for the 
cartridges, which are $79.95- each. 

This interface will, I feel, really come 
into its own when cartridge-basea 
languages ic.g. Forth, Pascal, etc.* 
become available. Then Interface 2 and 
the Spectrum will outperform many of 
their more expensive rivals. 
Test interface supplied by Computer 
Plus, Chrisichurch. 



OPEN fl7:"m":1;"text" 

PRINT #7;"halo" 

would put the string HELLO into the file 
named text, which was connected to 
stream 7 with the OPEN command. 

If you want to remove a file, all you 
have to do is enter ERASE as you would 
LOAD or SAVE. 

Once you hjve closed a file, it cannot 
be re-opened to' add mo re data. You have 
to read a lile. erase it, open a new file. 
and put tho data in thore. 

Moving unprotected programs from 
one microdrive cartridge to another is 
easily done, using the MOVE command. 
Unprotected programs on cassette can 
be put on to cartridge easily enough by 
loading and saving them. But protected 
programs wil be almost impossible to 
transfer Iron cassette to cartridge. 



North Shore's Computer Shop 

Specialising in ex-school 2nd hand Apple's 
and Commodore 64's 

Also available VIC 20, Specrum. Atari, 
Sharp, Sega, VZ200 & ZX81 

335 Lake Rd, Takapuna PH 495-369 



62 - BIS S BYtES - May. t984 



because the Spectrum's memory map 
and system variables arc altered when a 
microdrive is present. Also, each stream 
you open uses 595 byte3, so if you use 
all 16 channels (rather unlikely! vol 
would lose over 8K of memory. So a 
machine-code program, or one that uses 
all the memory, would need modifying to 
be able to be stored on microdrive 
cartridge. This means that even if you do 
buy a microdrive, you will probably bo 
stuck with your slow-loading commercial 
software. 

In conclusion, after exploring the 
capabilities of the microdrive and 
Interface 1, I must say that I am 
impressed. In use it is just as good as a\ 
true disk, drive. 

The Microdrive eliminates manual 
having to wind through a tape, trying ::■ . 
find a program. It loads the largest of 
programs in a matier of seconds. It is^ 
easy to use, and extremely powerful; itsl 
file-handling and networking capabilities 
mean that the Spectrum can become a| 
serious tool as well as an absorbing toy, 

Tho disadvantages which I mentioned; 
at the start are minor compared wiith the: 
advantagos that the system offers, and! 
doubts are based on the tape, not the 
microdrive. No doubt the tape will bej 
improved to offer a longer life] 
expectancy and greater storage] 
capacity- 

The microdrive is excellent. Ii on 
remains to be seon whether people ai 
prepared to pay Mew Zealand prices 
for it. 




ZX ACCESSORIES AND SOFTWARE 
ZX MICRODRIVE SA VE $100 



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The success of Sinclair compulers world wide is 
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How to box 
your titles 

By Brian Strong 

I've seen some nicolv written 
programs that do all sorts of wonderful 
things, but ihoy all failed miserably in 
■one aspect. Thoy looked lousy on- 
screen. 

One ol the reasons you find articles in 
n newspaper or magazine oasy to read 
(not necessarily understand! is they are 
visually well laid out. A publication can 
fail, no matter what the content may be. 
simply because iho layout is confusing 
and hard to follow. 

Many programs that display 
information on-screen suffer from this 
problem. Somo programmers seem to 
have a fetish about cramming every 
available inch lor millimetre, whatever) 
of the screen with toxt, the some sort of 
thinking that has people inscribing the 
works of famous poets on the head of a 
pin. 

instructions for the user have far more 
impact if only a few lines at a time are 
displayed- They have time to read and 
understand t horn, then press a key to get 
|he next, lot on the screen. And while 
you're at it, double space the lines for 
clarity. 



Maybe you have already tried this, but 
the result has beoi like some sort of 
insane course in speed reading, the text 
cycled up the screen with the speed of a 
nudist away from a wasp nest. 

Let's fix this one up before we go any 
further with a handy subroutine you can 
use. 

1000 VTAB 23: HTA33:PBINT PRESS ANY 
KEY TO CONTINUE" :POKE -16368, 0:G£T 
Z$:PRIrdT 2*:H0ME:PETURrJ 

Don't worry about it, jusl use it. The 
words "Press any koy to continue" will 
appear on line 23 o* your screen. As you 
write the PRINT itatements lor vour 
screen texc. keep ciecking Ii6w it looks. 
Whan you decide there's enough on- 
screon, then just add the next line, we'll 
assume line sixteen to illustrate: 
16 GOSUB lOOO 

Whan the amount of text you have 
decided for each screen appe&rs. the 
GOSUB will send the program off to line 



Apple tip 



rog. 



Some calculations come up with 
decimal places that run forever past the 
bounds of practicality. 

Hero is a i out in? you can use which 
will round off to two decimal places. 
1O0 BW = ONETHING'NOTHERTHSNG 

The answer could be BW =s 
7.4074074. 

200 BW1 = INT <BVV100*-.5)/10Q 
300 PRINT SW I 

BW4 will now p-int out as 7.41 . 



1O0O and execute tho subroutine. All 
that happens as far as thu u*ci I* ' 
concerned is that toxt appears on- 
screen, then an instruction to press a key 
for more. Having executed the 
subroutine the program then returns and 
proceeds to line seventoen. Try it! 

To double space text. Just add an oxtra 
PRINT statement to the line. Tike this 
lOPPINT-THlSlS THE FlflSTUNE":PRTNT 
20 PRINT'THIS IS THE SECOND LINE" 

For an extra bit of class, try this short 
routine to put a box around your title. 
100 HEM. TOP BORDER 
200 VTAB 1:HTAB 9:FOR X = 1 TO 23: 

PRINT ;:NEXT 

300 REM. THE TWO SIDES. 

'100 FOR X = I TO 23:HTAB9:PRINT ;: 

HTAB 32:PRINJT :NEXT 

500 REM. CLOSE BOX 

600 VTA6 16:HTAB 9:F0R X = 1 TO 23; 

PRINT"—;:NEXT. 

You can adjust the size of ihe box by 
changing the values of the loop. Play 
around with it any way. anil see what 
you can do with it. Youi text is lucked 
away within the routine, so work if out, 
there ain't no such thing as o free lunch. 



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COMMODOR6 64 

Looking 

after 

your 

machine 

By Steven Darnold 

I bought my Commodore PET in 1 979 
and have given it more than 6000 hours 
of use. In that time I have lilted four new 
tyres to my bicycle, blown up art electric 
heater, and worn out the heads on my 
cassette recorder, but the PET has not 
required a single repair. 1 am confident 
that \n 1990 my PET will still be &oing 
strong. 

My Commodoro 64 is only a year old, 
and of course it, too, has had no 
problems. In fact, considering that the 
64 has only half the number o* chips of 
the PET, si should last twice as long 
before something goes wrong. 
Therefore, in the year 2000, my 64 will 
probably still be alive and kicking. 

The question you should ask yourself 
is whether your 64 will have a long life- 
Just as smoking and drinking can 
shorten a human life, your 64's life span 
will depend on how you treat it. Here are 
some hints to keep your 64 out of the 
repair shop. 

Don't plug anything into your 64 with 
the power on. This includes cartridges, 
joysticks, cables and dongles. Most of 
the 64's ports have a power line; if this 
line accidently makes contact with the 
wrong pin, a delicate chip may be 
zapped. 

Don't take chances: turn off your 64 
helore you plug anything in. 

Avoid turning your 64 off and or*. 
You've probably noticftd thai when a 
light bulb blows, it usually happens when 
it is jusl turned on, The same thing 
applies to your 64. Every time you turn 
on the computer, a little surge runs 
through the chips. Do this too often and 
a chip will blow. When I am finished 
using my 64. I don't turn it off unless I 
am sure that I won't be using it again 
that day. It's better to leave the 
computer running unused for a few 
hours than tr> turn if off and then on 
again. 

Buy a reset button. Many commercial 
programs disable tho RESTORE key: a 
reset button will enable you to regain 
control without turning the 64 off and 
on. In addition, a reset does not wipe the 
computer's memory. This enables 
experienced programmers to recover 
Clashed programs by resetting tho 
computer and fixing ihe pointers. Reset 
buttons cost loss than $10 in New 
Zealand. There are- versions for the user 
port and for the serial port, and some 
cartridge port extenders have built-in 
reset buttons. 



Cover your 64 wien you are not using 
i|. Otherwise dust will build up in the 
keyboard contacts and eventually make 
some keys unreliable. It is also a good 
idea to keep food and drinks wotl away 
•from the computer. It takes only a dribble 
of Coke io produce a very big repair bill. 

If possible, give your 64 a place of its 
own, whore it sits permanently with all 
fts peripherals. Otherwise, if you set up 
the 64 anew each time you use it. it will 
be subject to- much more wear and tear. 
The daily plugginc and unplugging of 

cables may wear o^i the connectors, or 

you may accidentally jar something 

loose, 

The aibove measures will help to 
protect your 64's g^jod health- However, 
there is one final precaution you may 
wish to consider: a surge suppressor, All 
oloctric power supplies have occasional 
surges and spikes, which mar stress the 
64'& chips. However, if you plug a surge 
suppressor between the computer and 
the wall socket. >uch spikes will be 



dampened- I paid $20 for my custom* 
made surge suppressor five ye are ago, 
but the current price for off-the-shelf 
suppressors is as high as S200. 

i have op plied all these me asures to my 
computer, and I attribute to them its 
consistent good health. If you do 
likewise with your 64, it should gtve you 
many years of useful service. 

Billiards on 
the monitor 



I havo recently received three now 
games from Alpine Computing: Pott it. 
Quintic Warrior, and Hexpert. All of tho 
games come on cassette and they are 
reasonably priced at S 24.95. My 
favourite one is Pottit. 

Pottit is a two-player game based on 
pocket billiards. On the screen is a 
representation of a four-pocket billiard 
table with three balls. Each player has a 
joystick and uses it to control one of tho 



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COMMODOR€ 64 



.,,..,>_,,„,..., .„..„,;,,,. ,,.,.. :::■:":■■■:■■■;■;"- .;:::::::•:■'■■'•■ • ■:-.:::"■■■•■ ••••■<•. -,,.:.■.:■.■-.■: ■ ■■■■.-. ;■:■•: •■—.>. 



bulls. Thu third LwN is neutral and moves 
only when hi! by another ball. Points are 
scored by pocketing trie neutral ball or 
the opponent's ball. Points are also 
scored from cannons, i.e. hitting the 
opponent's ball and then the neutral ball. 
■The balls have a realistic inertia. Once 
you get your ball moving, you cannot 
suddenly stop it or change Its direction. 
This makes Pottit primarily a game of 
momentum and angles. Fast reflexes are 
useful, but less important than the ability 
to foresee and anticipate positions, 

The Pottit graphics are simplo. but 
effective. Black, white, and red sprites 
are used for the balls, and normal 
graphics characters are used for the 
green table and the blue scoreboard. In 
some respects, however, the graphics 
are a bit disappointing. For example, no 
attempt is made to animate a ball falling 
into a pocket: instead, the ball just 
disappears. Moreover, the pockets 
themselves have no depth; they are just 
lines on the table. In total, Che graphics 
are adequate, but not spectacular. 

The Potth sound effects are excellent. 
In fact, without the sounds, Pottit would 
probably lose much of ils charm. When 
one ball strikes another, the sound of the 
collision is extremely roolistic. This solid 
click gives the graphics real depth and 
makes the coloured circles seem like real 
balls. The sound of balls rebounding from 
the cushions is similarly realistic. 

Pottit is a good two-player game. The 
rules are easy to learn, and you can start 
playing and enjoying the game almost 
immediately. There is plenty of 
excitement as both players struggle to 
guide thoir balls into and around the 
other balls. If you have two joysticks, 
this game is well worth considering. 



Fighting off the 
alien hordes 



This game does not appeal to me, bui 
it may bo of interest to aficionados of 
Gridrunner and other blast-the-aliens 
games- Hordes of tiny aliens march up 
the screen, and your task is to shoot 
them before they reach the top. The 
aliens do not fire on you, but there are 
X-Y zappers and an occasional stream of 
missiles across the screen from right to 
left. If you clear the screen, you go on to 
a new set with more of the same aliens 
and faster X-Y tappets. Occasionally, 
between the sets, you will be attacked 
by a mutant worm. 

Over oil. Quintic Warrior is 
competently put together. The graphics 
are okay. Tho sound is okay. The game is 
okay. But somehow I just can't get 
oxcited about it. Part of the problem is 
the lack of originality. The X-Y zappers 
and the mutant worm are straight out of 
Gridrunner, and there's certainly nothing 
now about rows of marching invaders. In 
addition, I soon grew tired of shooting 
the aliens. First, the aliens are so small 
that I was constantly having to make tiny 
readjustments to reposition my ship on 
the right line 'or the shot. Second, in 
order to avoid the X-Y zappers I was 
66 - 9ITS A BYTES - May, 1384 



driven into o tcdioue, ropotitiva pattorn 
of movement. 

In fairness, Quintic Warrior has some 
nice features. I like the way the aliens 
say, "2apl" when they are shot- ' like 
the way the X-Y zappers kill you only 
when you are caught in intersecting 
beams. I like the freeze game feature. 
However, in total. Quintic Warrior is not 
nearly as good as Gridrunner. 



Joystick control 
spoils game 



This is the fourth Anirog game t have 
played in recent months and I must say 
that something is seriously wrpng. When 
I played Kong, Moon Buggy, and Frog 
Run. I noticed a certain lack of 
responsivonoss In the controls. In tho 
first two games, it was a minor problem; 
but in Frog Run it was seriously affeciing 
the game. Now with Hexpert. the 
joystick contro is so bad that it totally 
ruins the game 

Perhaps the boys at Anirog 
intentionally make their games- awkward 
to control. Perhaps they think that 
unresponsive controls add to the 
challenge;. If so. they are making a big 
mistake. The little man on the screen is 
my alter Ogo. The more responsive Ihe 
man is to my directions, the more I am 
drawn into the game, (f the man does not 
move when I cirect him to, then I might 
as well not be playing. 

Hexpeit looks like a lovely game, and) I 
wish I could play it. But when I direct the 
man to hop, sometimes he hops and 
sometimes ho doesn't; sometimes he 
hops one space and sometimes he hops 
two; sometimes he hops up and 
sometimes he hops down. It's 
infuriating. Su;h unintentional hops are 
often fatal. It is very easy to collide with 
something or hop right over the edge. 

I find it incredible that such an 
attractive game should have this flaw. 
Perhaps I'm doing something wrong. 

Unfortunate y. when Alpine produced 
the cassette :ard for this gome, they 
accidentally left off a section of the 
instructions. Fi's this section which tells 
you how to move the man. By trial and 
error, I discovered that the joystick 
diagonals- seen to work, but I am far 
from happy wth the result. 

Another prcblem with Hexpert rs the 
use of the sprite collision register. 
Hexpert takes place on a tilted plane of 
hexagons; there is a definite 3-D 
perspective. As the little man hops from 
hexagon to hexagon, he is pursued by a 
snake. Sometimes, because of the 
perspective, the little man's sprito 
touches the make's, even though the 
man and the snake are on different 
hexagons. Because the sprite collision 
register i& used by tho program, this 
registers as a hit. This is wrong. The 
program should only register o hit, when 
the snake is on the same hexagon as the 
man. 

Over all this game has considerable 
potential, bu: in its present form it is 
fatally flawed. 



Getting the best 
from joysticks 



Many popular games for the 64 use 
joysticks, and a good joystick will help 
you improve your scores. However, to 
get the best performance from your 
joystick, you also need a good 
foundation. The people who designed 
the Quick Shot joystick recognised this 
when they put lour suction cups on the 
base. Plunk the Quick Shot down on the 
table and the improved leverage gives 
you surer, taster control. However, the 
Quick Shot's auction cups are not 
perfect. In moments of arcade frenzy, it 
is easy to jerk the suction cups right off 
the table. 

. The bost foundation you can give your 
joystick is a solid piece of wood, which 
you con rest on your knees. An old 
breadboard is just about right. To attach 
the joystick to tho board, you will need 
four L-shaped hooks. They cost about 20 
cents each and come in various sizes. 
Choose a hook whose long leg 
(excluding the screw) is slightly shorter 
than the height of your joystick's base. 

Place the joystick in the middle of the 
board, and screw the hooks into the 
board next to the joystick on each of ils 
four sides. The short leg of each hook 
should extend over the base of the 
joystick and hold it firmly to Che board. If 
at any timet you wish to remove your 
joystick from this platform, it is a simple 
mailer to give each hook a quarter turn 
and lift the joystick straight up. 

I use such a platform with my Wieo 
joystick and consider it almost essential.. 
The Wico is similar in design to the 
joysticks in arcade machines, and 
really needs a rock-solid base. Other 
joysticks, as well, will profit from such a 
base, particularly if they have lire 
buttons on the handle. Even Quick Shot 
users should consider abandoning their 
unreliable suction cups and building 
themselves a solid platform. 

Competitions 

The winner of March's competition 
was Potor Middolkoop, of Christchurch 
Peter has been sent a copy of Pegasus 
Odyssey (donated by Alpine 
Computing). 

The prize for this month's competition 
is a cassette tape of Pottii (donated by 
Alpino Computing). Entries close on May 
25. The winner will be selected randomly 
from among tho correct entries. Only one 
entry per person. 

Your task this month is to write a 
program which accepts a number input 
betwoen 1 and 9999 and then print it out 
in words. For example, an input of 4537 
would produce FOUR THOUSAND FIVE 
HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN. Send the 
program with your name and address to 
Potiit Contest, P.O. Box 2Q1 Alexandra. 



Subscribe 
today 



Your Authorised 
Commodore Dealers 



Aehby Computer Contro 

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177 Ward Stfe-rt. HamMon Phone: 80-741 

Consulting tnlcrnjilonal HZ no 

SecuirtCS Hojw. 76 SymorvK St'oat. Auefctwo Phone? 797-6S5 

Oala Llnl 

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B3. Govt Life Buik)lt>u, Ward Street, rtamityn Phone: 393-S4S 

Eastern Southland Computers 

C* Robin Isaac Elect ric.il Monday Street. Goio Phone: 5710 

Eclipse Radio & Computorrt 

134-136 Stuart SI'OOt. Dunodin Phono: 776-102 

Einatcin Scientific 

1 77 Witts Street, Wallirvjton Phone: 851-055 

Eve 'ley Business Systems 

LOS Butting. 1 1 Huron Slreol. Takapuna Phon?: 494-068 

Goto Systems 1990 

313 Great South Road. PapaX«*a. Auckland Phono: 298-6317 

Harris FUelronics 

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Home Computers ■'■>/ Lid 

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Home Enterlalnmont Centre Lid 

1 73 Hirjli Streol. Low*' Hull. W-jllmoleA Phono: 661- t« 

James Electronics 

326 Polen Street. Thames Phone: 86-893 

K Road Video f. Computers Co 

65 Pill Street. He«vlon, Auckland Phone: 399-655 

Masterton Computer Contra Ltd 

5 P-3'fyStreot Miwlorlon Phono: B9-92S 

Micom DoElgn 

31 Harrsville Road. Tutiknu Phone: 68-0 73 

Micro Business Sysloms Lid 

336 51 Asaph Shoot. Chnslcliurch Phone: 791-410 

Northern Business Machines 

B '.V.iiau 5traoi. Torbey. Auckland Phone: 403-3269 

OES Business Sysloms Lid 

13S Don SL'eet. Imurcarflill Phono: 84-448 

Oltice Roquisiios Ltd 

Of vVarq rayto* & Featruysioo Sis. V/eBngfon Phone: 721-902 

Otitis Business Equipment 

40 Stafford Str«Ol. Timaru Phone: 44-241 

Otaoo Bustnes-s Equipment Lid 

Cor Li«erp»i h Bona Streets, Dunedh Phono: 776-227 

Petleisons OlHce Ectulpmcnt Ltd 

21 1 Ouocn Sfeet Ea&i, Hasinas Phone: 8S-16I 

Peanut Computers 

', :,:,n.l. ■ ...... C'-.nt.sH'. Wi-ilinaton Phono: 791-172 

John Rayner & Atcoclitos 

■16 Warlbcyo.»ohStrool.Mt Eden, Auckland Phono: 600-844 

Becom Enterprises Ltd 

1 94 Gloucester Slreol, Chrislchurcn Phono: 797-811 

Biegers Home Appliances 

?3fl Rroitivmy. Newmnikol, Auckland Phono; S43'804 

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10 Montiossor PMco. Howick. Auckland Phone 535-4325 

Smith 81 Church Ele-ctKoil 

Cass Street, Asfibunc Phono: 69-019 

Stewart Applianco* 

134.3 Victoria Avon.io. Y/anganui Phone: 52-700 

Mr Don Stewart 

295 Spencer Rood. Lake rarawoia. ftotorua Phono: 53-591 

Suppled* Eloclfonlcs 

430 Mi ecen l»oan. Ml toon. Auckland Phono: 605-216 

'aupo Computers Ltd 

28 NukJtau Sir©©!, TaupO Phone: 66-356 

Tho Com pulercorp Lid 

78 "ccalon Road, Chrotchurch PJiono: 4flt>-760 

Tlmecrott (h'Z) Ltd 

43S3 G-cat North Road. Glonoene. Auckland Phone: 836-9580 

Timms Business Equlpmont Lid 

Tennyson Stiool. Napier Phone: 54-250 

Trio Computer Division 

63b Devon Raid, Now Plymoutti Pfconc: 85'22fl 

Viscount Electronics 

305-308 Church Slreut, Piilmerston Nortn Phono: 86-636 



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Getting to 
know your 
machine 

By Brian Gibbs 

Vigorous marketing bv the disiiibulors 
of the Sega SC3000 has seen this 
machino rise quickly to become one of 
the fastest selling home computers in 
Now Zealand and Australia. 

The distributors have finally sourced 
some cassette -based software and a 
Wellington company is offering some 
locally produced software at a 
reasonable cost. June sees the 
introduction of the microdrivo and I/O 
controller lor about S6O0. 

For those of us not in a position to buy 
the ROM pack games software, the 
alternative has been to convert or wriie 
our own software. 

Fortunately, the SC-30O0 uses a 
version of Microsoft BASIC that is 
relatively easy to comprehend, even for 
the bcgmner. To offset this, the BASIC 
handbook supplied with the Level IDA 
and IIIB cartridge has been translated 
wilh its Japanese origins still painfully 
obvious. 

In this and soma following articles, I 
hope to be at>te 10 give Sega owners 
some helpful information on both the 
hardware and software of their 
computer. 

Tho SC-3000 uses a Z80 8-bn 
processor as its CPU. This runs at a clock 
speed of 3.57 MHz. 

Tho video display is controlled by a 
Texas Instruments TMS9929 video 
display processor. This VDP providos up 
to four display modes, although only two 
of those ato accessed hy BASIC in the 
SC30O0. The other two modes are a 
24*33 graphics mode and a multicolour 
mode. It is possible to use the 
multicolour mode by the use of a 
machine-language subroutine. The VDP 
gives access to 32 sprites, and also has 
associated with it, 16K bytes of 
dedicated video RAM. 

The video RAM has no direct 
connection lo the CPU, but is updated by 
writing to the VDP. which is memory 
mapped at ports &HBE and &HBF. Tho 
video RAM is MB81 18 and is IC10IC1 7 
on tho main circuit board. 

The sound generator is on SN76487 
IC(IC4). This has three sound channols 
and a noise generator, while each 
Channel has its own attenuator to control 



ies output volume. A 2K RAM IC (IC3i is 
uwrt fnr system RAM. This is memory 
mapped at &HC000-&HC7FF. It is used 
bv plug in cartridges for stack/data 
storage. 

IC5 is a 8255 PIA (peripheral interface 
adapter). The keyboard, cassette, printer 
and joysticks are all interfaced lo this IC, 
which has three ports and a control 
regisier. Ports A&B ato input and 
mapped at £HDC and &HDD 
respectively. These two ports ste 
connected to tha x columns of the 
keyboard. Port C (&HDE) is Output and 
connected to tha y columns of the 
keyboard. The control register is mapped 
at &HDF. 

Plug-in cartridges interface to the main 
PCB, via a standa-d edge connector. Pin 
numbering of the edge connector is 1-22 
both on the solder and component sides. 

On the solder side, pins 1*14 are for 
address lines A0-A13, and pins 15-22 
are lor data lines DO-D7. On the 
component scde, pins 1+ 2 oro Vcc )5 
volts), and pins 21+ 22 are ground. Pin 5 
is BD (active lo), bin 6 is WR faqiive lp) 
and pin 10 is MREQ (active lo). Address 
lines 14+ 15 are an pins 18+19. 

The video output is either RF or 
composite video rtith audio. The video 
connector is a standard 1 80 degree DIN 1 : 
pin 1 is audio; pin 3 is video; end pins 2. 
4, 5 are ground. 

Much Jias been written about the 
ability of various home computers to 
define the user's own high-resolution 
graphic symbols. The SC3000 enables 
this by the use of the PATTERN 
command on the lext screen. Additional 
25 characters can be added. Those 
codes are normally blank and are &HDO- 
DF, &HED-&HEF. &HF0-&HF4 and 
&HFF. These user defined graphics can 
be written to the screen by the PRINT 
CHRS( > command. Try this for example: 

10 SCREEN l.liCLS 

20 PATTERNCf&HDO. "3048EMCC8-18*i 

8484" 

30 PRINT CHRSI&FDOi 

It is importan to note that the 
characters defired by tho pattern 
statement on ifie text screen are 
expressed as 8*6, so when you are 
defining /our own characters, remember 
not lo use the two least significant bits 
of your 8*8 grid. I desired, the complete 
character set could be redefined by 
allocating your new patterns to the 
existing charactsr set. for example: 
PATTERN CC&HF8 would redefine the 
existing club cha'acter. 

The Texas Irstrumonts VDP also 
allows the use of sprites on the graphic 
screen. This permits excellent animation 
but unfortunately, things run rather 
slowlv in BASIC- 



Each sprite is allocated space in the 
sprite generator table. Eight bytes are 
required per sprite-thus sprite is 
located at &H1800-&H1807, sprite 1 at 
&H1808-fi.H180F. 

There is also memory space allocated 
to a sprite attribute toble. Four bytes are 
required per spriio, beginning at 
&H3B0O. 

Therefore, &H3B00 contains the "Y" 
position of sprite 0. 

&H3B01 contains tho "X" position of 
spri te o. 

&H3802 contains the sprite name. 
&H3803 contains the colour of the 
sprite. 
Try creating a sprite lido this: 

10 SCREEN 2.2:CLS 

20 FOR X = &H3BO0 TO &H3803 

26 READ A'A/POKE X. A:NEXT X 

30 REM. LOCATION 0. 120. SPRITE 0, 

COLOUR DARK GREEN 

35 DATA &H78. &HO0-, 0, &H0C 

40 REM SPRITE PATTERN) 

45FORX= &H1 BOO TO &l 11807 :VP0KE X. 

&HBB 

50 REM MOVE SPRITE RIGHT 

55 FOR M= SHOO TO &HF4:VP0KE 

&H3B01.M:N£XTM 

60 REM MOVE SPRITE UP 

65 FOR M= &H78 TO &H04 STEP-HVPOKE 

&H3BO0, M:N'FXT M 

70 REM CHANGE COLOUR AND A SMALL 

DELAY 

75 FOR C= «-H00 to &HQF;VPQKE SH3B03, 

C:FOR D6 =1 TO 200:NEXT DE 

80 VPOKE &H3B03,4:ST0P 

Next, change the values for the 
positions, the sprites, and their shapes. 
But remember, sprite movement is not 
automatic , . . you must control it by 
software routines. 

Next, a note about colour information. 
For the text scroon, this is held at 
location &H9339 in the reserved RAM 
area. The byte is split into two nibbles. 
The least significant nibble contains the 
colour information lor the background. 
whrle the most significant nibble 
contains the writing colour information. 

For the graphic screen, locatron 
&H933A holds the information in the 
same manner as for (he text screen. 
Page 100 of tho manual gives the colour 
information. Try convening the colour 
numbers to thoir hex values, and poking 
them into the above location. 

Finally, a couple of tips discovered by 
accident. 

To stop tho screen scrolling when 
listing a program, hit the space bar . . . 
another hit will icstari the scroll. 

Also, when playing some ROM 
cartridge games, a touch of the reset 
button will slop tho game tunning . . . 
another touch restorts where you left 
off. This is particularly useful when the 
going gets tough in some Space Invader- 
type games. 



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BBC 

Menus and 

ROMs 

for graphics 

By Pip Forer 

This month's column picks up the 
threads from April (user friendliness} and 
touches on a new topic (the graphics 
extension ROM from Computer 
Concepts). 

First, the graphics ROM. This is a 16K 
sideways ROM that offers the user 
access to several graphics facilities 
through 29' calls to- ihe operating 
system. It is interesting because, unlike 
BASIC or word processor ROMs (which 
are "language" ROMs in the BBC), this 
ROM is a utility ROM. This means that 
when switched on land this ROM can be 
lur ned on or off by ■ f X 1 62) it checks all 
'cells to see if they contain commands it 
can act upon. This means it can be 
accessed from a variety of language 
ROMs. If such commands are found it 
promptly actions them, otherwise it 
passes them on to ROMs further down 
the line. Clearly this means if the ROM is 
first in line it gels to act more quickly 
than if in a lower priority socket. 

The ROM offers the user of BASIC (or 
any language! extended graphics 
facilities. These consist of three major 
components: Sprite graphics. Turtle 
graphics and some general graphics 
enhancements. The latter include a 
variety of special shape functions 
(circles, elipses, arcs, et ceiera). plus a 
3-D perspective generator. 

The area that may attract most 
interest immediately is the Turtle 
graphics facility. This consists of eight 
commands to define and move a turtle 
ovor the screon (forward, right, left, et 
cetera). The more unusual Turtle/LOGO 
commands such as TOWARDS are 
missing, but with a suitably structured 
BASIC program you can create named 
graphics procedures such as LOGO. 
However, if you really wanted LOGO to 
start with you miss the easy-going 
interaction of sketching via the LOGO 
operating system. There are benefits 
though in that the commands allow full 
access to the normal PLOT statement 
codos 30 your turtle can draw dotted 
lines or even triangles as it moves. As an 
extension to graphics syntax turtles are 
undoubtedly useful and the speed of this 
implementation (unlike some early 
commercial routines) is quite acceptable. 
The sprite commands allow you to call 
up an interactive sprite editor in any 
mode and design multicolour shapes that 
can bo recoiled or animated from any 
language. This is simple (primary kids 
love it), powerful, and fast. The only 
missing feature is that no precedence 
rules exist controlling which shape might 
pass behind which other shape if they 
crossed. Using the 16-colour mode and 
tho flashing-colour option some very 



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useful animation effects can nonetheless 
be achieved (an ant moving its jaws for 
instance) and the sprites can be 
combined programatically with the 
Turtle graphics. 

The general graphics .routines are 
rather an odd bunch. They Th elude a 
complex shape Iill in anv colour (which is 
disappointingly slow and offers no 
"quilted" colour variations), reasonable 
circle and arc routines, options for large 
text and automatic screen rotation and a 
3-D perspective routine {which is fairly 
trivial code any way!. 

In all. there is nothing startling but 
together the package is a significant 
enhancement to the graphics pro- 
grammer. It is very well documented, 
works well and merits its price (in Britain 
about $80}. One interesting comment is 
the method by which commands are 
called (rorn a BASIC program. Using * 
calls means only one statement per line. 
Normally, when used with a sideways 
ROM, it also means that arguments can 
be sent only by numbers, not variables. 
Thus a circle of radius 40 at 
|X,YJ=(l0O.1O0) would be drawn by 
'CIRCLE 100.100,40. However, the 
graphics POM allows values to be 
passed by the integer variables A% to 
2%. In programs this meains that you 
have to get your desiied parameters into 
the right variable before any call <say 
from an array) which is messy. H owe ver, 
it gives the necessary flexibility and is 
certainly an easy system to use. 

User menus 

The second "topic goes back to April's 
theme of designing a good user 
interface. The program and procedure 
listed this month offer you a means of 
minimising user input errors in any 
situation where there is a set of simple 
choices open to the user. Basically, it 
allows you to create a screen on which 
the user choices are listed. One of the 
choices is highlighted by being set 
against a bar of a different colour to the 
screen background (if you want, the text 
could bo coloured differently, tool. The 
up and down arrow keys can be used to 
position this bar over any one of the 
choices until the desired option is 
highlighted. Hitting RETURN then 
accepts that option as the user's choice 
and the program can proceed 
accordingly. 01 course, the user can still 
make the wrong decision between the 
options, but at least mistypes and a lack 
0' familiarity with the rango of possible 
options have been removed from 
contention, 

The code is quhe short and uses the 
BBC's Teletext character mode. It takes 
in a series of options by RE ADing strings 
describing the choices for the user into 
array AS. The number of choices is read 
in as variable NZ and the position of the 
first choice on the screen is provided by 
the variable LAG%. Those are used to 
calculate the top and bottom line of the 
screen used for choices (TTEXT% and 
BTEXT%>. 

The program works like this: line 15 
colours out the screen (the CHR$ values 
there are colour blue and background 



respectively). After reading the choices 
into AS(I and establishing their location 
on the screen the choices are printed 
(line 60I and instructions on using the 
menu given (lines 70-801. The program 
then calls PROCmenu. 

This procedure starts by disabling the 
cursor keys so ihat hitting up or down 
arrow does not sand an editing cursor off 
up the screen. The VDU call suptasses 
the normal flashhg cursor. The next line 
prints the first choice against the reverse 
bar colour atlineTP%. The program then 
repeatedly waits for a key press that is 
either an up or down arrow or a RETURN! 
(iine 230-250}. If RETURN then the 
choico is made and the procedure is 
quitted. Otherwise the current "barred" 
choice is printec in normal colours lline 
265) and the cuirent value of the choice 
line (TP%I incremented or decremented 
lline 270I depending on the arrow 
pressed. The next two lines check that 
t he new choice is withi n the correct lines 
on the screen and if not "roll over" the 
bar. The procecure then goes back to 
print the bar in the new position via line 
220 and awaits a new instruction. Line 
290 restores the cursor and editing keys 

by the way. 

The program is pretty elementary, but 
it is enormously helpful in making 
programs nicer to use. Although the 
example here is imited by the lines on a 
screen to a choice between a maximum 
of tw enty options each of one li ne length 
tne principle can be expanded and made 
more flexible to jllow lor a wider variety 
Of choices. Also, although the mode 
used here is Teletext the same ideas can 
be used in olher modes. The program 
would just need to alternate fore and 
background colours as the bar moved by 
setting a one-line text window I VDU 28), 
using the COLOUR command and doing 
a CLS instead cf using Teletext control 
codes to get the same, effect- 

Next month I hope to report in depth 
on the long Hong), awaited 6502 second 
processor and the promised Econet level 
III expansion. New Zealand deliveries 
started in early April. We will also review 
some data-bass and Teletext editing 
software from the British user-group co- 
operative, BEEEUGSOFT. 



50IM A*?) 

19 MODE 7 

15 FOR 1=9 TO 24iPRWTGH 
ftSU32);CHMU5?):NEXT 1 

26 DATA 7 ,"}REA EVBJATl 

(NS a /AREA SLOPE" /CONTOUR L 

!NES",'MESH OJffiLAY' , "SHADED 

SURFACE T , " SKYL1ME ASPECT* a • 

QUIT' 

36 READ N2:fOR ISM TO N 
2:READA*U'/):IIEaT YA 

48 LAGX=5irEXr^LAG/.*l! 
BTE<T/-=TTEXTy.*ll2-l jTPMTEXT 



Y. 



58 PRWrTABU.TTEXTC) 



48 FOB 1=1 TO N2sPRINTCH 
R*<i32)iCHRi(i5?l{CHRJ(13G>; 
';liftJU)lNKT ! 

78PR!NTiPWMTCHRK132)jC 
HWUS?)|CHIH<i33); , USETHt 
ARROW KEYS FOR SELECTIOr 

S8PRINTCHR3<I32);CHR*U5 
7) iCHftlt 133) i'Press RETURN 1 
o enter choice* 

98 PftODierw 

168REM CHOICE'!? TP/-NLA6 
Z...ACT ACCORDINGLY 

1S5CLS:PRIMT"CH0ICE HAOF 
• jTKMjVK 

116 END 

288 OEFPRQCnenu 

285 UDU 23,1 ,6;$;8;G;:*FX 

228 PHIMTTAB(l,TPZ)iPR]MT 
CHR»<I29>iCHRi(157);CHR$<l34 
);' 'jTP?HA{K;A$nPZ-LA6 
7.) 

238 REPEAT 

218 AfrlHKEra) 

258 LNT1L Att=13 OR tfM38 
OR AX=139 

268 IF AX=13 THEN 2?8 

245 PRINTTABU JRO jPRINT 
CHftt<I32)!CHR*(15?);CHM(i30 

278 7P/=TP"/-(AX-i#)*2-l 

275 IF TKKTTEXTX TRf-BlB 
XT/ 

?8B IFTOBTEXT/!7P7,=TTE 
XTX 

285 SOTO 226 

298 VDU 23,1, \$\*\l\\W 
4,8 

299 ENDPROC 



Classified policy 

There arc two sorts of classifieds: 

1. Commercial Classified - i.e. those 
where the person or organisation is 

seeking to make ;t profit. Rates - 50 

cents per word payable in advance 
unless by prior arrangement. BITS & 
BYTES reserves Ihe right la determine 
if any advertisement is; a commercial 
classified. 

2. Reader classifieds - i.e. those where 
a reader is selling privately owned 
computer hardware or software, 
seeking information, publicising a user 
group etc. Rates - the first 20 words 
are FREE. Thereafter 20 cents per 
word (payable in advance). 



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Bo-x 527. Thomos. Ph 86-893 or contact 
your nearest Commodoro 64 dealer. 



BUS 



IYTES- - May. 1B84 - 71 



BOOKS 

Which one? 
Some answers 

"Businessman's Guide to 
Microcomputers" 
by Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, 
Prentice Hall. 202pp. $29.35. 
Reviewed by Brian Strong. 
This Australian publication, 



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chapters, the authors tell you where 
to start, teach you the jargon, then 
look at specific business 
requirements in the confusing world 
of hardware, software and add-on 
products. 

There are detailed reviews of 
Apple, Commodore, Tandy Ifladio 
Shack), Sord, IBM, DEC, NEC, Sirius, 
Wang. ICL and WICAT systems, plus 
a comparison char- 
Software packages for financial 
modelling. database. word 

processing and general accounting 
are also reviewed and compared. 

The book rounds off with some 
common pitfalls for first-time buyers. 

Although running the danger of 
becoming dated by covering specific 
systems and software, all systems 
and models, except maybe one. are 
currently available in New Zealand 
and as far as I can tell, so are most of 
the software packages. 

If you own a business and are 
looking for a corrputer system you 
should be forced to read this book 
before you see a brochure or listen to 



a sales pitch. 

This book is voluc for monoy and is 
not just a catalogue or shopping list 
of computer gear. The only thing to 
ignore in il are the Australian prices 
— some of them are more like our 
deposits unless you can remove the 
tax. 



Widening 
horizons 



"Computer Languages and 
Their Uses" by Garry Marshall, 
Granada, I OSpp, $19.95 
Reviewed by Martin Downey. 

This book sets out to inform 
programmers of alternatives to the 
BASIC language (or particular 
applications. As is rightly pointed 
out. BASIC is a good all-round 
beginners' language but other 
specialised languages exist and they 

should not be overlooked. 

Although most popular languages 
are mentioned in the introductory 
chapter, only four are covered in 
detail in the remaining chapters. 
They are PROLOG, GIN OF. COMAL 
and LISP. Each of these is suggested 
os more desirable than BASIC for 
specific applications. To emphasis 



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this, each chapter starts with a 
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The four applications covered are 
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are very well covered and even the 
BASIC programs supplied should be 



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Ol interest to tt-e read-er. The last 
chapter on block graphics is a bad 
Choice though ard does not do LISP 
justice. It may however, make this 
rather fascinatirg language more 
easily understandable. 

If ybu are a BASIC programmer 
interested in oie of the above 
applications, even if you don't plan 
to give up BASIC, you will certainly 
get something from this book. If you 
have a particular interest in one of 
the languages mentioned, you would 
probably be better served by a book 
specific to that lenguage. 



A bit too 
routine 



"BASIC Subroutines for 
Commodore Computers" by 
Eddie Adamis, John Wiley & 
Sons, 312pp, $31.95. 

Reviewed by Stesen Damold. 

The title contains two misnomers. 
Most of the boak contains trivial 
conversion programs. not 

subroutines. And the programs are 

written for any computer with 
Microsoft BASIC, not just 
Commodores. 

The bulk of the book is made up of 
1 00 conversion programs: metres to 
feet, metres to yards, Celsius to 
Fahrenheit, and so on. Each program 
is given a full listing and a printout of 
a sample run. In this way, a huge 
amount of space is devoted to what 
are inherently very simple programs. 
Most of the conversions- require only 
a one-line formula; the rest is just 
padding. 

Beyond the conversion programs 
are a few useful subroutines - 
mostly business programs to 
measure cost and profits, and maths 
programs to calculate progressions, 
permutations, and the like. Of 
particular interest is a set of routines 
for manipulating matrices. There is 
also, a very simple sorting routine. 

It is a mystery why the title should 
mention Commodore. All the 
programs will wo-k on most brands 

of computers. In fact, they run much 

better on a non-Commodore 
40 column computer than on the 
22-column VIC 

This book will rot appeal to many 
people. However, the business and 
maths routines rrtey be very useful to 
some. Overall, the book is nicely 
presented. The routines are carefully 
described and there seem to be no 
typograhical errors. 



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HITS & BYTES - Miiv. 1984 I'S 



CLUB CONTACTS 



twr. m^koccmpjie-n ustus group of mz. tocai 
meetings- Aucxiand 7«WAitdmiJ,ry elircrith j> 
VHF CluOroooii. H.v.o Ava. Wi Ro«x.u Ph. Oave 
rtnlooi. 77O630. e»t 518 UM. Wellington - moon 
Inr.t Tliur&dawolcoctiinr>mhin iteliruwn. tiist Ileal. 
Can* wvjrclcncc Siltool. PoninnO C'«» inoindiirt. 
low! coniJ*i. Anion. 280-269 M*m«wn - 
Wa*e»C tech D oKx* tiaHrooon: W WtrtrouM, of 

!1e month 5 3 r'i local CO"IIJC(* FVM( IMarf) 

393-990 o< AMon <Mon-i8vuioi «6fli> Knwk«'« DOT 
I'DHIirnn md Nupmi aUorna'.e i-ionths. Local 
conwcis:. Kondall iN*p">'> 43S-624. 6oi> iTjradald 
440"i>b: Much 1-HMimgi.r. T76-236 C I mat Clutch 
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Local iwwii MOuH. 532-30 /. 

SHARP PC15CO uS<R GROUP - CanKti All*. 
lho<r-e,, P.y. no. 156, h,»po.. N 9 w,i"',.- 

SEfAOO ft HAHT APPLE COMPUTER CLUB. Korikori 
High School. KoiXerl. lesson*. 12:15 »» I;1 ft 
WWWy. Contact: 5. Snee>r T 'an 79-6S2. IjwfttrB »' 
*.!■%... Ditve. KotArn 

WHLAh'CAR£l CU*M\JT£R GROUP: Tom ABe>>. 3 Va^-u 
Rrt VYnjngettt. PTare 63063 (*!, Mn» syfliv 
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N7 Mi'.'ivr;;v;i.;: iim.uii ivi,.- ■...- 1-: a-...i. „• 
A meeting 18 hold o" tho firu Wodnevloy ol ooch 
montf el 11m OSHZ "all. 107 Hdlvboiouijh Ho. Ml 
RMUL lie™ 7.» P"i Ymvt rr • i m n*«o at 
Merw Workshop 1 0or> — 5om. at in* w lud en 
the Saturday lOllov.ina iTm iioovo mc«t>nij 

Tho lontiANtg hW oiobpa me p<m of. or .iifii.it mi with, 
the N-Z. MiOO Club. Mod lings start ol 7.30pm at the 

OSN£ Ha*. Ihos* mown inn "old ai itiu VHF 

Otirovni. Hiiol Ave, Vi Rut Ml 

APPiE USER GflOur": R>» Bnjoo. ph 761-670 M 
Meetircp. 3*0 Tuesday. 

aeCUSfR&IOUP Dow Fieloei, dti 7/0-633. Eit 51 8 
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BUSINISS USER CROUP: Calhy Arrow. phone 4 91.01 3. 
Mooi«ipi;4ihTuo«l3tP ' even rnonihs. visits an odd 

menltic 

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I'jwow. Pticiw 03*r355 P4. V«:iro! \u 

WMnccd^v 9p» 
IBM PC USER GROUP: '<!«v OowUck pI> 402-630 <M 

776-910 IA-I Muntingi: 3td IhtiiMUv 
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2!-6?0. OisIhjIiu Wrci.iq^: thud Woiiwsoitv •>' 

nu-M ' Ccfluec BJl Ftv^u^ot Js-:it!sitl 0h 

276)966c.ta03lv.) 

MZ C0</MODOHL USCR GROJP (All INC ! John WiHc 

Oil BJ39b89 (hi. PO Bo>> 1J?3. At^kliAU 
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iu". Dforrtsrnn Rtf. ncnuma. 

NZ 0S60RNE US'll QROUP MZO0* Ika" Jjnei. o»r 

659-738 tni Vc*N(vjt: 1st truiMav. ZOKtotoySl. 

Gr«V«»nn 
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Qu«iKi Rr>. M< Woil'nqtan 6, pnoia a '6*6 18 m>. 
SINCLAIR USERS GROUP: 0ov$ Far nwr. pl-one 567 ■till y 

lh), V^Hrvai: diH WnOn«iday ' 
SORCERER USER GHuUP INZ\: Sokwn Anew, ph 

491012 0th UcMtuV.cioWcitNW. 
SOKO USER GROUP-. &M« »«■. 3 BiouJo- PL 

M*iL»e-<4. P" 266-0133 (W. 
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rovtJRROV/ USERS GROUP.' CRtri Cotton. Pitoni 

789163. Mc«itn(ie:. 3»1 Iftuindsy. 7.30pm. 20 

H'03rtr'5r.r-?C1. O'CV Ly"" 

WiZZARD USi« GROUP Ric^iao '.k'^lger. 1 1 iihiiibj 

Si. T«**n9t (ft 6178-219 iW. 
1 6C? USER GHyy* Byrfl.. Conauef, 4,1. <S9&fi69 H 
2650 USER GROUP C-*vof SnoiftBid. pro™ 676-501 

mi. 
68*X >M USER UROUP. Jgnn Kuec"^. p*" lioo??6 

tM. 
7h» tbovc coitlKIt e»n uiuMf be lojtU « N.?. 

MraKompttfti CUb tmsnai ond in«to 

.. ■ . .(-in;, c -ii PO 801 62 10. AuctUno 
OtK'i Au-kloncj-bssed group*: 
ACES lAutMiviU Computet Educanon Sociaiy): C- 

Dircirto-. Compula' CcilrO. SoctyitJory Teacnots' 

Ctyio.ic Mv.it Hag. SvntorvotB Stieui. Aticiianil 

Wtciin]s tnitd inuibaov ol niovh. 04 Uie GOBOMi 
AIA"iM:CflOCOLiPUimuSEHGSOu':lo-i Vmoo. 2:5 

V.inutio Av*. fdl'lM Mill, ph 46'}47 lh). Unit 

JtirJ I-uoMav. Vjni mm SuCutM tUCio Cub. Gt North 

ltd JJi'rt Ln»i 
BBC C»,i|>: Soe entry SI hflad of Itiis list. 
CPSOM HX20 JSiflS' OHOJP Coniaci: C *V. Nflh*. 

231 KliybM Pd>* Koaa. Aucklmd. iA>i8diiho"D. 

774-208'. 
IP41C US[R5 GKtXIP rAw«i*wi: C- CMutalot 

C<mr«. P.O. Bo> 0C44. A^cXIdrvl Cum 3u<'i.mjn. 

790-328 lv-'. Mom* thitd Wodnniday. 7pm, »i 

Cctiliii PomiiuiutB. 0l8.ll Saulii Rtl. tpuiw 
MZ 'US SO MICROCUMPUKIl CLU6: Dial Sij.it.Ki:. 

203A Godlay ltd. liorvoi Phonn SI 7-8638 (I.I. 

UfrtU fit« luttd.. OSM tU* 107 (WiSon^*. 

OSl.flBC USERS' GROUPf.At>:Seaot».y.KfnHj/lov, 77 
BrlultditY Hn»d. Au<kl»"VI. M<wt» thfd rueiklw, 
VHF CltiOrooma. Ho«l Avo. Ml Rofklll. 

SVWPC0L IN 7. SVM u*t>t 3-OU3): John FMicuon. PO 
Be. 5-60. IJJanw*»v*. 6H 2675- 188 M. 

A-2 1.EC BfJ" Mayo. Chu-chSwt*!. «:»•*•« PfcO-io 

490-37G «*rb«',ii*al"";"0'. 
HAV MICROCOMPUTER ClUR irauranjol <J.t. 

Mf«-i\.U Sdctrtiuv. SoMlgrit.it Rood. Tjumnoa. 

Phor-.. IM68 
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MrV.v. ol 4-0 Eik SlreM . T*ut»niii. 
hskqu crjuPiuifcG CLUB W*M; Jinfc CbiM. Baui 

132. V^jJ.lPh 4!> 334 W*li. K*Kft>- 



ATARI 4CO8O0 USin CLLB: Dih« Ri.-n PC So. 
0O3S. Ma.i.Jlvi- rheo«<071l %1 «02 UU. 

• IAMH.TON SUPFR) 80 USERS' Srur.a Whin, it) 

436-878. 
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Mtn Eilcoti Worn!hau;c. 3? Knnny Crcicflr.l. 

Ha-nUon. 
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C"ji'"ijo. Dec" Gricntiold. J 3 Gsctoo Si. 

M..i-..i.vill . Ihl Mo«rrto..io 7767. S^rrPtarv. Geofl 

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StO'w". 40 Corottai^m Roac. MOrrirsvillc. Phone 

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UnuhAtl Putt. HoiWA lB*d InenUv Ol MCI 

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ffcrtorua 
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Bct»310B, Fitrtoy. M»w Plymouth. Phonoa0 216. 
TARAHAKI MICRO COMI'jIfH SOCIETY PO Do. 

'/M3. BWl Httit. N«a Plrwulh Mt K St»4H 

Pt-co. 84S6. vVj.ii.-] 
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Bradv. Pittmat Phwtrucv. P.wiui Pf*n. Nnptt 

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NicMt Pft: 440-997. 
VOtOROLA ilSfR GROLI'; H*.ry WiHgins. :Zl7DJR:. 

P.O. Bo. 1718. Pahmntton Nolh. Rione 10631 

B3 527 Iti) 
MOROWKCMUA VICR0C4MP.I1CR CUIB Meotc ot< 

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Wjffv \V>inM. P.O. B01 40S. Le»m. UCNin. 

Ui.irn Cola 78 fdirauru'i Stt««t, Levn Ph 1C69» 

63.904 
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Goallrcv PcltHHitn, 27 CotnwuU Si. Mittotlon Ph|h] 

67-439. 
CCMTUAl DiSiniCIS COMPUTERS M lDUCATIOW 

SCC*TY: R«y 8utW» 4 Jo*« S«»Bti. l«vo IC63i 

84-4R6 or «ir^t«t iVaraan. 16 SUflOten SUMI. 

<4*6«, WsrUtal-Ofl. i0») 7&7-IQ7 
UPPER HUTT COMPUTER CLUB: Sltanc DovW. 'I 

Holdi«onh Avtnue, Upprtt Kill Phono 278 -54b 

.',.. itll.m«[hire dub 
BBC USER GROUP" UWt of oi*toi inachmre nelio""9 

IOj Sm *nry »»*d n> lit. 



irngfon. 

3B?0. 



Mtio 



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2n*J Sunday ot i-nonth 
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H.Z. SlNCLAin USERS' GtOUP ■ f MeCaneil. 

St'c*'. l»— o< Mult. 
M2 SUPER 80 USIRS' GROUP C • P*ai*.;Con*p«Hw*. 6 

Oundoa B . Chart veil. W*nitqion a Phona 

791 172. 
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Phoro 73H-024 (v.). P.O. Bo" 1&011 Vaatinas: 

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7B2a. Wellington Contarw: Pttl#> Watch Ihl 
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ATI'.IMGIOU MICROCOf.PUliMCi SOCIETY IRC: P.O. 
Bca IbSl . WllfilOIQl, or Bill Pai«.in hi 725 OB6. 

C-..TC*. l76Wilt4S<»r*i.on the 2nd Tu*tvl>, #.«h 
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± h. CBEVE 



AND 



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60' 668 Plic-.r lh) 85 207 jr i«" 87-834 
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C litichjiih 
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Si .. Snravdofi. Chitswhuielv Pitcpfl 384 660 Ihl. 
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utm 

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996099. 
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Hook>n8 ihl t>82'21>7 01 Roo>iUy Onthatn (hi 

R93 2l<. 
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SOUTH CAM1ERBURY COMPUTER GROUP Cites Icr 

all machtiwt from ZX81 to IBM34, Goalf 

MtCaujIian. Pnotw Trnwu 84-200 or P O. Bo« 73. 
WORTH OTAGO COMPUTER CLUB: Contaff Peiet 

Gr.)fj.- P Bo. 2*1. Oarraru. » > l->-« 29 106 (e) 

70-646 lh). 
LEADING FOGE HOME COMPUTER CLUB datno Orr. 

Leading EilU*iCorrtioiet6, P.O- Bo* 27b!). Lliincdi" 

Phone 5S-7BB (wl. 
flUNFDI^ COMMD'DORt USER GROUP. Contact: Mti 

S.l Down*.*. C The Micro Shon. P.O. BO> 5-518. 

Owned" !«' 740463. Mttinu:atfKfi4lftrar4>ot 

ntcth. 7pm- 9pm. 
OUMEOIM SORO viSERS' GRQU^ Terry Shund "Imoc 

(024j77l-?'JSi IWI.Bai -IS7 |h|. 
rl^(TF^ALC^YC0^<FUTER' , ^^ER(STGnOlJ•! , Coniaci: 

lair.- Stcvrrti. 8o> 5260. Owned n Phcno 882-603. 

MKJimjs rvfty weanJ Iwi*J«V 
OTAGO C0WPJi*R EDUCATION SOCKIY: C ■ P?t« 

Brook O'.i-. '!■■ . >--.ih Sciiocl, Ouneoln. 
SOlrTMlftNDtOVMOOOftEl.StRGRCUPrlVICIOai'd 

64*1. Aodreti*. C7- Ofhco Eflyiontenr So u thland . B0« 

1079, Imwcarom, 
HZ 50Fl¥VJ»nE [XCHAh'GE ASSOCIATION : Non-p-olil 

o/dud for aachanoe ol koliiwafe wiicn by 

rxao/anann wwmoas. Cc-tt act- Lwi Thwi 6o> 333. 

ItJMXQIl. 

Noia: Ckiiia yvnuld joprcciaie a itan-ped self addraasea 
■nwelnnc- with any writton inuuiry to ihoin 



If yo«r club w j-oio * <im M:ed, drap a lint mttt Ihe 
aW«b to: Cfc* Ce—act*. KJS t SVrfS Bo> 627. 
Cnmtcfwc1 lh« deadline *o« »t.lnu<t^ at-l aftc-jnoni 
n inn first weekend of tho mcith hafo«iJ it-> naat tasi.o 



Trade 

Enquiries 

Welcome 





mtsm 

ALL TITLES FOR YOUR 2X81 AND 
SPECTRUM NOW AVAILABLE 

from:- M | CR081 n 

P.O. BOX 80-075 AUCK. 7 
FREE LIST ON REQUEST. 



74 BITS 6 BYTES - May. 1984 



i 



GLOSSARY 



■■■■■■■ ■■-'■■■'■"■ ■■■ ■ 



■ : ■ ■ i '■■■'■ ■ 



Ac -mil lie computer: Connects (ho PS232 part of a 

microcomputer 10 a telephone handpiece. 
Algorithm: A In! ol msuuciions for coiivmsi oul some 

process step bv step. 
Applicaiions program: A p'ogram wrtlten to carry out 

a specific job. '©i example an accounting or woid 

processing] pi oil i it" i. 
Aitav; A daw ivi»u Inrnd in Itijih level languirgcs. 

which is stored In a contiguous block of memory. 

Accessed by ibo array nma and an index nuking 

ii easier lo process groups ol data in many 

situations 
ASCII 1 American Standard Cede '0' htformoiiort 

Inter charge. An Soil code. 
DA SIC: Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction 

Code-. The tnoHl widely used, arid easiest 16 

learn, high luvol programming language for 

n»tfocompuw'j, 

Baud: Speed of transferring data, measured in pits 
per second 

Binary: The system ol eauiiiinfj in 1's and O'u used 
by a" digital computers. The l*i and O'b Bfo 
lupte t.ontvd in the compuloi by electrical pulses, 
oilho* on or off. 

Sit: Binary digit. Each bit represents. J character m 
Binary number, than* either a 1 orO. The number 
2 cguals 1 "i isnfcwy and is (wo bits. 

Booi: To toad Hie operating system into the 
computet 1rom a disk 01 tape. Usually one of (be 
lust steps in propming iho computer lot km. 

Bubble memory: A non-volatile momo/v (i.c. it is not 
orasnd whan (he power is turned of II. The 
information is stared 55 microscopic pieces o1 
magnetic polarisation. 

Bulfgt: An area of memo«y used for temporary 
sioiage while ItiinsJeifinnj 0*1.1. to 01 from 
peiiphifi.il such ns a printer 01 a dick rirrvc. 

Bug: An error in program. 

Byte: Eight tuts. A letter 01 riuftlbeT ii usually 
rcp-escntad in u computet by o series of eight 
bits called a t)yiu and the compuHi handles these 
as one unit o« •'word". 

C: A systems program developed fo» implementing 
the UNIX opoialing syslom. Combines dotft 
structure ol high level Januunyii with ability 10 
address machine a( a level usually associated 
with assembiem language. 

CAL: Computer Anted Learning CAL programs are 
written to tiku different acliovM on different 
student answer*. 

Computer lanounoa: Any group ul lottcs. numbers, 
symbols ond punctuation marks that enable a 
user to instruct cr communicate with a 
computer. Sou alfio Prog ia muting lanrjuafli>s and 
Machine language. 

Courseware; Name lor compute' programs used in 
teaching applications. 

col: Weans character per meh. A common way ot 
describing; character density. 1 , how close 
logoiher characters are in primers. 

C(*'M: An ope'alingi ayslum tor Z80 based] machinist. 
It la by far iho most, widely used DOS for Z8f> 
based machine* and there 18 nri extremely large 
goiiware base lot 11. See itfso disit cae tilting 
systems. 

CM: Characters P«* second. A eommiin way of 

oci.cn bin g speed in printers. 

Cursor: A mark on a video that indicates where (h* 
next chaisctet will be shown, 01 where a criiimiu 
can next be m»do. 

Data. Anv in form .1 nun used t>v the computer either 
lO or inleiMt in(n«r¥»ati«v-i All interAol 
information ■* repreventcd m l^rvny 

DC: Direct coupling Melecomjiuinigl, ot ditccl 
i:iirn-i)t. 

Dl»k: A flat, circular maflnetlt surloco on which iho 
computer can More and retrieve (lain WW I 
programs- A tloxinlr. or Happy disk i* .1 sinijli' R 
Inch or 5'-'. inch dtikol tle«ib*« P^stic enclosed m 
an «9ive-:o«i- A hard disk is 0" assembly at 
several disks o' har« plastic matenoi. mourned 
one above anoihO' or the samo spindle. Itiertafd 
disk holds up In hundreds ot miliums ot bylW 
while floppy di*ks typHcally hold betwpon 
140.000 and three mill'on bytes 

Disk drive: The machurvdl device which rotates Hit 

disk audi positions the lejflfwiite head >o 

•if ofmation cart be retrieved w sent 10 the chsv D* 

th« oomputct. 

Diskette: Another name for a 5V tnch floppy disk. 

Disk operating system: A Ml of programs that 

opfl'Btc and eonnoiono or moto disk d'ivgs. See 
CP'M fo-r ono example. Othor examples are 
TftSDOS (on T RS SO) an<! DOS- 3.3 ((or ApptesK 

DOS: Sec disk opo'awia system 

De* mairix: A type of punt head, made up of a malm 
ot pms. e.g. BiB. When a charactnr is to t>n 
priitca the appropriate pins push out onfl strike 
iho nbbon to paper forming tnu charactei . 



Dot graphics: These g/cphics aio Individual screen 

pries. Used by eltrte turning on or off one pixel 

Doubls-densily: FUKxm Hivos thai vt*e twice the 

standard amount o* lata in the same space. 
Dump: Popular term k»r sendiirvg tfata from a 
compulor lo a mass Etoroge device cueh AS diski 
or tape. 
EPRQrvl: grgsable, useprpgrammable, read-only 

memory. 
Execute: A command Ihjt tolls a computer to carry 

oul a iiner'* instruct^** Of p'og'ervi. 
File: A continuous coMoc*on ol characters (or bytes) 
that the user consul -pi a unit 1(o' example on 
accounts receivable- lie), stored on atapoor disk 
tor later use. 
Firmware: Piogramg (j<oa in s comcotor's ROM 
I Head Only Memory), os compared to software, 
programs held outs<dj the computer. 
Floppies: Thin plastic G'S«s with a magnetic coating 
used tor stewing In o'inniion. Cabed lloppaes 
becai'KC they ate ftctibic. 
FORTH: A compact language. The programmer 

extends the language ns ho programs. 
FHetion feed: A type o' paper-feeding syslem for 
pnntari: normal oeptr m a continuous ohcot is 
gnpEVd between tvto friction rollers Mon 1 
typowntot. 
Hardware: The cofikputer itself and ponrytetat 
machiniis (or storing, ronding in and pritVMfl Out 
in Forma lion. 
Hex: Abbreviation for ho xodcomol nottf-tiO", a 
base-10 numbering tystem convenient to use 
■/.!•- computers 
Hio^-kvel language: A n v Inrush lite l3fWJU»T». SUCn 
M BASIC, that provke* easier use for uetiiamed 
programmers. Tier* ore now many such 
languages and dialects ot the same language Cor 
examplu MicroQASlC Po'yBASIC etc). 
Input: Any kind of Information thai one emeis into a 

comput or. 
Interactive: Refers to the "convetsatic-n" or 
cornmur-iieation between a computer nnd the 
ooeraioff 
Intertoee: Any hnrdwatotof twain syscem thai links 

a miciocomputei and any other device. 
I/O "Input'output". 

Inverse video: When the tockground Is coloured: o.g. 
on a black and while screen whito becomes 
backgtound and cnaricto'3 ma wmten m biatk. 
K: Tne number 1024. Cornmonly relers to 1074 
bytes. Mam exception ■» copaciv of individual 
chips, where K meant 1 02* bits. 
Kilobyte (or K): Represents 1 024 bytes . For example 

5K Is 5 1 20 bytes 15: 1024), 
LCD: Liquid crystal display. 

Line leod; A control coJe character found in the 
ASCII dwkaciei set. its normal purpose « 10 
move the curse down one line Ion screen) 01 
move paper up one inn (on prinieO D©« not 
rc-tuin iho cursor to tke left-hand margin. 
Machine longuage: The binary codit language that a 

compulor Can directly "understand" 
MainFramo: The very larg« computers that banks and 
Other large busmisses use are called 
mamtrames. Also in nacrocornputers the term is 
sometimos used to desenbe the coto of she 
meeh-no. i.e. the CPU pluc memory. 
Moss storage: A place Ifl which large amounts ul 
information ore stored, such as a cassette lupu or 
tloppy disk. 
Mngabyto lor Mb): Repreieota a million bytos. 
Memory: The pari of the ^c'ocomfwte' that stores 
information and ms"' uct ions. Each isece ul 

infotmaiKrn of mstruaion has a unigup toeeiwn 
assigned to <l within 7 memory. Theie is internal 
memory inside the microcomputer itnoll. and 
oxtornoi momoiy stored nn a pcriphofol dovleo 
such no disks or tape. 

Memory capacity: AmonH of available storage 
space, in Kbytes. 

Menu: LM of o-onons wi lam a program that allows 
the eiwrato* to chootit which pat: to interact 
with (boo Interact ive). The options are displayed 
on o screen ond thi operator chooses one 
Menus allow user to uiisily ond quickly set into 
programs without knowing any technical 
n-ctrtods. 

Microcomputer: A smat compute' bas^d Oft a 

rru Ct opr ncassor - 
Microprocessor: The coilrol processing unit 0- 

"intelligent" pan of a microcompuiur. It is 

contained on a single (flip of silicon and controls 

all the functions and calculations. 
Modem: Modulator -demo<ulator. An instrument thai 

oonnpct* a mic'ttcompoiet «o a telephone and 

abows it to commune ile with another compute 

Over the iKhsphone lino. 
Network: An micrconnecwd group ol comiiulers or 

torm mills linked together for (pacific 



communications. 
Output: The infotma'.ion a computer displays, prints 

Ct transmits o'K" •! »w>a pf ooc««.l ttw «np«t. Gee 

input -and I/O. 
Paiatlo! interface; A type ut communications 

interface used mostly for pimteis. it sends a 
whole character ot data flown eight {commonly I 
lmes T one Oil down each line. Tho mosr common 
type of parallol intorfaco 'or printers 13 the 
Centronics mtorloce. 

Pascal: X high-level language that may event'j>!y 
rival BASIC i" pOpLljriiY 

PEEK; A cemmanr) that examines a specifl memory 
location and givos the operator the value there. 

Peripherals: All external input or output devices: 
printer, lertrlnal. drives etc. 

Phioaking; Breaking into guarded computer systems 
via telephone links. 

Pixel: Picture c*0n>cnt. The point on a screen in 
graphics. 

Plotter An output device loi iiansliYiing mlarriaiiun 
horn a enmputor into pictorial or graphical form 
on paper or a simJor medium. Types include x-y 
(tlat-bed plotter) and drum plotters. The 
distinction is how the pens and paper a/o moved. 

POKE: A comirtarKl thai inserts a value mtct a spect'ic 

memory location. 
Piogiam: A sol or collect iun ol instructions wiilien in 
u particulai piogiamimng lenguagiu that caus.es a 
computer to carry out or execute given 
operation. 

RAM: Random access memory Is the very fast 
momory Inside your compute.'. The access timo 
for any p«ce is the same. Your program and run- 
time data are usually stored m RAM. 

REM statement; A temark statement in BASIC. >t 
serves as a memo to programmors. and plays no 
part in the tunning program. 

Rosolution: A moasu'i' of the rtumber of points 
tpixol-s) on a computer screen. 

ROM; (lead only memory, Ar»y memory u> which 
information or irssirucirtms havo been 
permanently fixad. 

SerUt Interfsco; A lypf> of comrnoiMCitions: interface 
used tor a wido variety of purposes Iprintors, 
terminals, loloplione correction etc.). It uses a 
minimum of two wires, ond sends the data one 
bit at a time down one viae. Tfe roost common 
type ot sanai mteifacu is RS232C. 

Sheet lead: A typo of paper feeding System normaBy 
used '01 high- quality document printeia. A 
special device picks up a sheet of paper and 
luods it into friction roUers. 

Simulation: Creation ol a mathomoticai model on 
computers that reflects a realistic system. 

Software; Any programs used to operate a 
computet. 

Structured programming: An approach to urogram 

writing that puts emphasis on ovgi-OII piogiam 

design, readability, and other loaturos. 
Syaop: Systems operator Personlsl whn urns n 

bulletin board 
System: A collection ol hardware end software 

whore the whole- 11 g-eatsr thai the *um t>l th^ 

pans. 
Tractor toed: A type ot paper reeling system tor 

printers. Special compute- pSiW' v.'lth holes al&no 

both sides is fed by iho tractors gripping those 

holes. 
"DM Visual display unit. A device that snows 

computer outout on ik television screen. 
Wo id: A grcuni of bats thai ate processed together bv 

the computer. Most microcomputers use eight ot 

!$!■«{ woids. 



Correction 



In the Match issue of BiU & Bytes, 
Shayne Doyle, in reviewing the 
Brother HR-15 printer criticised the 
"non-standard parallel interface 
socket"- Shayne Doyle now 
comments: "This was a 
misunderstanding on my part. It is in 
fact the socket for the keyboard or 
cut sheet feeder. The printer comes 
in either serial OR parallel versions." 



BITS* UVTES - May, li 



- 75 



CLASSIFIEDS 



^MAT^mwmw^ VnViVW^VAVf Jr.Wm'^. r *>**AV*wJ *w* ******* ** ***** ***-\ *J*J^^J\^^*'^*'¥9*¥f*tff*¥tV*r^*tVfWi/*V*7^tf*^^^^*^^f*^v^f*^\ 



Wanted lo Swap: Home written or public 
domain e*m+* frtr lh>' Artpli 1 tt\mpntiT or Apple 
compatible computers. Write to: Ian Harris. 
R.D. 2. Kerikcri. Pungacrc. 
System 80/TKSJW) Software Game* etc. nil half 

pike to clear. Send for list 10: Kant Agencies 

ltd. P.O. Bos. 710. NcKon. Phone N.N 84-066. 

Save O*er$l0O0: BBC 'B' 1.2 DOS* Dual Disc 
Drive (8O0K) switchiiblc 40/80. wordwbe, 
primer and software. $4300. Owner going 
overseas. Phone Waller 47X-1X2 Cbristchurch. 

Pegasus Cumpnlers: A group of Pegasus owners 
in Christchurch h interested in coiresponding 
with any others who warn or have information 
about these machines. 1- vpccisilly wanted is 

informaiion fram the manufacturers, abom 

expansion boaids. video controller, disk 
interfacing, colour graphic*, etc. Infonnaiioii is 
available about local add-ons and software. 
Coni act 0. Ifcuboui, "'8 Pacific Road, 
Chrisichurch 9. 

ZX81 CoatffbatOff! Hilx A Hylrx has received in 
Ihc mail in a damaged envelope a lape-cavscitc. 
labelled wiili the woid. "Sitapitap". The parcel 
was posted at Riccarton on February 27. Would 
the sender please write to the Editor of Bits ,i 
Bjtts. 

For Sale: Coltiur m-unltur 11" BMC »iih Apple 
compatible Interlace SSOO. Phone Auckland 

mm. 

Printer For Sale: Star UP-8480. As new just 

$500. Phone Marlln, 88S-052 Chrtetchufch. 

For Sale: System 80 computer with software 
S850.00 u-.n.o. PllOrtC 7JHK GOK or write 10 A. 
Rodgers, 6 Onslow Street. Gore. 

Wanted lo Buy UrgMtJV: Serial terminal — 
Screen and Keyboard. Please contact: Brent 
Copp, 2 Maidstone Road . Christehurch 4. Phone 
516-392. 

Wauled <n Swap: Home written and public 
domain Sega pimci. Please send games ami a 
blank C-W) tape lo: William Lau. 6 Wallers 
Place. Oiickawa. Napier. 

Warehouse Prices; Printer* GEMINI I0X 12(Kps 
f/l S76S ($890 normal retail). GEMINI STAR 
DELTA 10" I60cp» f/l 8K buffer SI III 
($1311.42). GKMINI STAR POWKRTVPE IS" 

dub* wheel IfcpS f/l serial 'parallel $999 

($1119.14). SIUIGAKI DISC Dim t SAJO0 

$44Tp<£$J7|. ZENITH \UBKH MO\TtOKS.J2« 

($4291. Write lo: COMSKC. P.O. Box 30. Waihi 

Beach Smith. 

FOR SALE: ZX Primer, hardly used $150. 

Mono Casseiie recorder (work* with ZX8I) 

S90. Games tape with several machine code 

ganiff* 510. Phone levin 8J2-85. 

DISK DRIVE: 1541 , new $795. Speech 

Synthesiser micro vax, new $195. Ph. Auckland 

4821 19. 

FOR SALEi Word Processor. PEl.-TEK's 

Word Machine 2.0 (U.S.A.) for TRS-80 l/IH 

32/48K Disk System. $35.00. P. Clarke. 8 

Norway Si. KclbllMI. Wellington. 

FOR SAE.K; /.X-81 . I6K, leads, manual. 2 

books, extra long TV cord. Todd Dixon, 2/72 

Takutai Ave, Bucfclandl Beach, Auckland. Ph 

534-3865. 

System 81) t'pyratles: 48K. clock speed up. fast 

lupr i'n!.. Miiiiii.il disk cnnlrnllcr, Kcpairs. 

S.A.K. for drlidls. SpiftKUl Micro, Box 11, 

Watlil. Phone msif, i. 7571, 



Disk lirivc foi sale with 
well below coai price and 
Andy. Wellington 759-759 



Commodore 2031 
IFFF/PFT cable: 
biaud ivew. Phone 
evenings, 

/AM I6K 3D Game: Defense Penetraior. All 
machine code. $19.95. tt'tiie 10: JJ Maiaroa Rd, 
Auckland fi. One tape onlv. 
Warned lo Swap: Public domain games or 
utilities for Apple 1 1 or lie (Disk) Write lo: G. 
Peterson, 27 Cornwall Street, Mastcrton. 

76 BITS & BVTES - May. 1984 



Classified policy 

There are two sorts «f classifieds: 

1. Commercial Classified - i.e. those 
where the person or organisation is 
seeking to make n profit. Rates - 50 
cents per word payable in advance 
unless by prior itrrunjicmc-nt. BITS & 
BYTES reserves tlie right lo dp i ermine 
if any advertisement is u commercial 
classified. 

2. Reader classifieds - i.e. those where 
a reader is selling privately owned 
computer hardware or software, 
seeking information, publicising a user 
group etc. Rales - (he first 20 words 
are FREE. Thereafter 20 cents per 
word (payable in advance). 



FOR SALE: V Weak Tcrsion 1.IO for IBM PC. 
Original disks jiiiI manual. As new. open iu 
offers. Contact R . Ccx . Phone Mt6-94 , 9. 
Wellington.' 

FOR SALE: C64 Rabbit cartridge. New 
version with back-up. S9S ono. Ph Blenheim 
(0>7) 81-581. 

IBM PARIS: fiomodci composing- equiptnem 
suitable for making a computer printer. Phone 
482-059, Em. 8021, Christclmrch. 
MYSTERY SUBSCRIBER: Would the person 
who subscribed and ako ordered 10 hack 
copies with a Uiint ol Mew Zealand bank 
cheque drawn on the Queen St bianch, please 
forward your name ;ud addict! 



British Software- fur BBC, CBM-64. MC». 
SlpM-trum. y.X-8 1. Send Si.A.S.K. lot VHV. K mill 
order nfalQtllC. DVtltf emiuiriex e\liemrl> 
ivelennie. Paraxon Software. 16 Archibald 
Street. Ilunedin. Phone l»\ 44-*4> Mnn-Thnr 
after 4pm. 

OS-80 Cscrs lMieroL)os|: Enhance your DOS. 
sasc Machine Language files (No (task' loader), 
Renumber plus many more feature*. For further 
information on this and other original software 
for (he TRS-80 and System 80. send fl S.A.E. to:* 
Briggs Software. 14 Allan Berry Ave. Napier. 

Printer For Sale: C-ltoh dbt matrix, serial. Wide 

carriage (15'). RAM buffer, selectable baud 

rite, 3 lypcfaces. Phone Cordon, 33-703 

ChrisKttareh. 

Radio Amateurs: t.'se jour Cunimodori-.(i4 or 
VIC-20 lo generate moiM* from lln- ke>l>oanS. 
Fop i|ii.ilii>. icasoiiiible cost program. Also 
program la pietllil II. F. propaoalinn. Wrile lo 
the N.Z. distributor: Pergonal Coinpulrr 
Sjsirins, P.O. Box 860, Nelson. 

Commodore User*. Fur delaibol ihe beat printer 
deal in N.Z. Write 10! PtfWflll ('ompiiicr 
Sjstems, P.O. Box X60. Nelson. 

Scott Adams Voodoo Castle cartridge fo* 
VIC-20 for sale S40ono. Write: Mark Cathio. 22 
Batitry StrHt. Alexandra. OtafiO. 

For Sate: Commodore VIC-20, 3 months old. 
excellent condition. Sell VIC-20. Datasctic and 
books $495. Contact: S. Shearman. Fairw ay Dr. 
Kenkeri. 

Printer (ahles S.%4 for most micros, Onlronicx 
printer cable for Coinmudnrf MS. DUk drive 
and vldeo'iiitdto cables nad interfaees. Spartaeus 
Vlicro, Ro\. II, Waihi. Phone (08163) TSTIi 
Commodoro 64 soltwaro. Job ro(|)ster, p 
goneial'piitposo data atoratiu and rrrtiinval 
progrum. S-21.50. Music leachor, Inarn toroad 
usic on yotil 6d. 514.95. Prlcos include 
postage. Please send payment to (roopost 
690 CompusoU, 80* 290. Mnninewa. 



Advertiser Index 



A. Is". 2. Books 

A,V,M. Electronics 

Alpine Computing 

Auckland MicroCOmrniler Show 

Auckland University' Books hop 

Barr Bros 

Bell Tech. Books 

Bits & Bytes 
Business World 

Commodore Compuiors 
Computer Game ftortels 
Computer Plus 
Computer Siore 
Computer ,T*mashamg 
Camay Soltwarn 

David Reid Electronics 
Dick Smith Electronics 
Digital 

Einstein Scientific 
Electric Apple 
Excelsior 

Fountain 

GTS Engineering 
Gadfjet Companv 

Harris Electronics 

Hauraki Computers 

Hi-Tech P/o-grammirg 

James Electronics 
John Gilbert Electronics 



31 



73 
71 
46 
46 
72 



43 

50 

15,26 



67 
45 
23 
35 
55 
52 



K'Rd Computers 

McLean Info 

Malam Equipment 

S-D. Mandeno 

Wanukau Computers 

MEC 

WicrOAge n/icrc- Bus 

Microcomputer Specialists 

U if age Wrtolesnlers 

Uotymerx 

Monaco 

Moonshine Computers 



NZ Fine Chains 



5B 

13 
57 
16 
51, 61 
IS 
71 
41 
56 
60 
21 
47 



36 



34, 



63 

3 

7 

59 
71 
27 

44 

14 
45. 48. 64 

36 
62 
68 

71 
51 



P.C. Power 
Pitman Publishing 
3 otyprocessor Products 


20.33 
72 
42 


Rakon Computers 
Ray Ironies 
Remarkable Software 


9.4 9 
71 

4 


Sanyo 

Silkwood Manufacturing 

Sirius Systems 

Software Supplies 

Sord 

Supatcch Electronics 


30 
64 
18 
42 
53 
61 


Tower Computing 
Triad COrrtputers 


69 
71 


Viscount Electronics 


65 


West City Computer Centre 

Whitcoulls 

Whitehall Books 


45 
11 
73 



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20M t+onc: (02p23-!ft*> BHo: A>VJ'Ml 



CoflUCI 




A-iU'OTitt) IBM.PC DiMti" 



DISCOVER THE D ¥ S A N DIFFERENCE 



Four Reasons 
Why The 
Dysan 




is Worth 



Paying For 




1. 



100% Surface 
Tt-siecl 



2 



Advanced 

burnishing 
Techniques 



3 



DV M ™ 

» Lubricant 



4 



Only Dysan provides fully 
usable diskette su r faces thai 
are truly 100% erroi'-free 

across the cm in: (aee t >f the 

diskette. An exclusive on- 
and-behveen the i rack test- 
ing procedure guarantees 
error-free performance 
regardless of temperature 
and humidity distortions or 
slight he:sd misalignments. 



Dysan's advanced polishing 
met hods create 2 smOOth^T, 
more uniform disketie sur- 
face. Til IS results in beuer 

signal quality on each track, 
less wea r on drive heads and 
reliable access to data after 
mill ions, of head passes. 



Dysan 's proprietary RY'° 
lubricant complements the 
advanced burnishing pro- 
cess. Both maximize error- 
tree performance while 
minimizing headwear. 
Optimal signal presence is 
maintained between the 
head and diskette su rface 
during millions of write/ 
read interfaces. 



i »v '■■ i* a tnukmarti . if I xsan torpo ration 

The world's No.1 media ex stock from selected dealers 



Auto-Load 
• Certification 

Dysan's un ique quality 
control methods reflect 
tecliiK tlogtcal leadership in 
designing, producing and 
testing; precision magnetic 
media. Each diskette is un- 
erringly certified by Dysan - 
built, automated and 
microprocessor conirol led 
certifiers. Your system and 

data base will benefit from 
Dysah "s diskette reliability 
and unsurpassed quality 



solstat industries limited 



P.O. Box 13-183, Armagh, Chrislchurch 
Telephone (03) 588-202 Telex NZ4774 




New Zealand Distributor 

solstat 



Eventually you will be using Dysan — call your local dealer now.